Capitol Fax.com - Your Illinois News Radar » More proof that the Tribune editorial board doesn’t read its own newspaper
SUBSCRIBE to Capitol Fax      Advertise Here      About     Exclusive Subscriber Content     Updated Posts    Contact Rich Miller
CapitolFax.com
To subscribe to Capitol Fax, click here.
More proof that the Tribune editorial board doesn’t read its own newspaper

Thursday, Nov 17, 2022 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Tribune editorial

Before the SAFE-T Act, if someone was trespassing on your property, you could call police and have them arrested on a misdemeanor charge. Under the new law, the most police can do is hand the offender a ticket, if that person doesn’t pose a threat to the community. There’s no mechanism to get the offender to leave.

False.

* From ChicagoTribune.com

One claim often misrepresented is that as of Jan. 1, police will no longer be able to arrest someone for trespassing on a residential front porch, backyard shed, business or other private property. Many falsely claim that police will only be able to write a ticket and that the law would prevent officers from arresting a trespasser.

“We’re fearful that many of these events will end up in a physical altercation,” Glotz said in the video message. Homeowners will have to fend for themselves against violent perpetrators as law enforcement helplessly stands down, in other words.

Numerous nonpartisan groups have debunked the claim.

“Police officers still have the discretion to arrest someone if they determine that they threaten public safety,” InjusticeWatch reported Sept. 15.

Contrary to claims by Glotz, Pekau and others, the SAFE-T Act does not prevent police officers from arresting someone for trespassing, the State Journal-Register reported Monday.

“The bill’s only explicit mention of trespassing refers to trespass of vehicles, but still applies due to the degree of the crime,” the newspaper reported. “Typically listed as a Class B misdemeanor, a charge for criminal trespassing can lead up to six months in jail or a $1,500 fine.”

* Civic Federation

The law does not prohibit police officers from arresting and removing criminal trespassers from private property if the person poses a threat to the community, any person, or their own safety. Police officers will continue to be able to use their discretion about what constitutes a public safety risk in these instances. For example, see this flow chart for guidance on citation procedures.

From that flow chart, which was produced by the Illinois Supreme Court’s Implementation Task Force

Law enforcement organizations do have discretion to remove the person from the location of the alleged criminal activity, and then cite and release the person from another location.

* From a column I wrote more than a month ago

Hinsdale Village President Tom Cauley recently said, according to the Hinsdale Patch, “I guarantee you that we’re going to find ourselves with people just camped out in parks, and we cannot ask them to leave. They may be in your backyard or in your shed living there.”

Nonsense.

The Illinois Supreme Court’s Implementation Task Force has officially advised law enforcement they “do have discretion to remove the person from the location of the alleged criminal activity, and then cite and release the person from another location.” Repeated refusals to comply could then easily be interpreted as being a threat, which would allow an arrest.

It just seems to me that tightening up the law’s language to fully reflect the task force’s guidance and resulting inference about arrests would be a no-brainer response to the question about changes [Gov. Pritzker] wants to make.

And Amdor explains what activists are actually saying…


       

25 Comments
  1. - Amalia - Thursday, Nov 17, 22 @ 9:47 am:

    SAFE-T Act or Pre Trial Fairness Act The name disconnect is the problem of how the act is messaged.


  2. - Rich Miller - Thursday, Nov 17, 22 @ 9:50 am:

    === The name disconnect is the problem===

    The much bigger problem is the gross disinformation coming from what are supposed to be reputable news media outlets.


  3. - Holding Back - Thursday, Nov 17, 22 @ 9:52 am:

    There is many things that will need to be fixed to implement this type of system. As an insider, there too many questions with no answers yet.


  4. - Homebody - Thursday, Nov 17, 22 @ 9:55 am:

    The trespass clause is the same as the no cash bail clause in that the people complaining about it are mostly just complaining because they will actually have to do their job and justify their actions now.

    Abolishing cash bail means states attorneys now actually have to justify why someone should be locked up when they haven’t been found guilty of something. The arrest clause now means police have to justify why they are arresting someone for something that the punishment is generally going to just be a fine anyways.

    The last couple decades have really opened my eyes to how the biggest offense in the view of a lot of law enforcement is to have the gall to actually ask them to do their jobs.


  5. - Oswego Willy - Thursday, Nov 17, 22 @ 9:55 am:

    The disinformation that Proft used in his vertical integration that was regurgitated later by media in the ongoing cycle of trying to “win the day” with the GOP hurt.

    There were folks here commenting as the next Willie Horton was eminent… and the Act wasn’t even in force.

    The clarity with trailer bills so there’s no misunderstanding, or better, misinforming, of folks trying to know about things in sound bites, that’s what could be done this Veto Session.

    Honest discussion to honest facts.


  6. - Oswego Willy - Thursday, Nov 17, 22 @ 9:56 am:

    The Tribune editorial board sounding more like a Proft editorial board than honesty to their own reporting is very Tribune Editorial-like


  7. - Keyrock - Thursday, Nov 17, 22 @ 9:57 am:

    Chris Jones is busy. He’s still writing theater reviews from New York, as well as Chicago. He doesn’t have time to learn about issues discussed on the editorial page.


  8. - Michelle Flaherty - Thursday, Nov 17, 22 @ 9:57 am:

    In all fairness, the Trib news story is probably behind a paywall that the Trib editorial board doesn’t want to pay to access.


  9. - Oswego Willy - Thursday, Nov 17, 22 @ 10:10 am:

    - Michelle Flaherty -

    I’m still laughing. That’s well played.


  10. - TheInvisibleMan - Thursday, Nov 17, 22 @ 10:11 am:

    –Law enforcement organizations do have discretion–

    And this is where the rubber is going to meet the road.

    How many police are going to ‘use their discretion’, and do nothing - for the petty purpose of using their positions to display their anger at a law which attempts to bring accountability to them.

    It’s only going to take one instance going bad, and then somewhere like patch will mindlessly print the justification of a mayor like the one in Downers Grove to ‘prove’ their initial objections are now being proven correct.

    The law isn’t worth the paper it is printed on, if the local authorities refuse to enforce it or worse actively work to undermine it. To me the law is fine, it’s the people who are going to abuse their positions of authority who are going to be causing a decline in the local quality of life for their residents.


  11. - Furtive Look - Thursday, Nov 17, 22 @ 10:20 am:

    Thanks for shining some light on this.


  12. - cover - Thursday, Nov 17, 22 @ 10:20 am:

    Proponents of bail reform should point to this example (in Wisconsin, not in Illinois) showing the downside of allowing cash bail - this guy has made bail 3 times:

    https://www.fox32chicago.com/news/drug-dealer-bails-out-kenneth-twyman?taid=63765709eaedf2000108aac4&utm_campaign=trueanthem&utm_medium=trueanthem&utm_source=twitter


  13. - TJ - Thursday, Nov 17, 22 @ 10:25 am:

    I don’t think that the Tribune Editorial Board reads anything other than alarmist headlines.


  14. - Hull Tigers - Thursday, Nov 17, 22 @ 10:40 am:

    The Theatre Critic has great hubris, despite his ignorance.


  15. - Big Dipper - Thursday, Nov 17, 22 @ 11:34 am:

    All that stuff about the Act being suddenly passed in the middle of the night with no prior input from stakeholders has been pretty thoroughly debunked as well. The Trib editorial board is an embarrassment both to itself and to the city.


  16. - Amalia - Thursday, Nov 17, 22 @ 12:21 pm:

    hoping they fix the law to allow judges to consider previous avoidance of appearances.


  17. - Jerry - Thursday, Nov 17, 22 @ 12:31 pm:

    When the “L” has a stop in Hinsdale then you can worry about people camping in the parks.


  18. - Annonin' - Thursday, Nov 17, 22 @ 1:10 pm:

    “coming from what are supposed to be reputable news media outlets.”
    It should be noted that most media a bootlicks for cops cause they don’t want to be cut off from police news and tips. That can breakdown with events like the MacDonald gundown.
    Maybe someone could sign-up Leader Curran to do state wide fly around reading the Supreme Court report as a good faith effort to see if GOPies want to help or just stall somemore.


  19. - Annonin' - Thursday, Nov 17, 22 @ 1:43 pm:

    Speaking of not reading the paper yesterday the Editorial Page ran an epistle from Jim Nolan about rebuilding the IL GOP. Without making a case for why this might be needed, Nowlan suggested the braintrust include the son of the ConfessedCongressman at the helm. Shrewd get the guy who lied to the FBI and filed false paperwork and got a sleazy, special deal from Trump lead the GOPies.


  20. - Tom Keane - Thursday, Nov 17, 22 @ 2:56 pm:

    Let the gop rebuild , wont work. With the great minds running this state , assuming no more are charged with crimes we should be fine


  21. - cermak_rd - Thursday, Nov 17, 22 @ 3:28 pm:

    If the GOP could move toward a center-right organization laser-focused on good governance and not anti-union, anti-gay, pro-Christian dominance, etc. it might be a party more useful than just being a mat to stomp on every couple years.


  22. - JoanP - Thursday, Nov 17, 22 @ 4:11 pm:

    = hoping they fix the law to allow judges to consider previous avoidance of appearances. =

    ~sigh~

    The Act DOES allow judges to consider prior failures to appear. But to appear cannot be the SOLE reason to deny bail. Judges can certainly look at why the person missed a court date, and take that into account. Were they in the hospital, or did they take a vacation to the Bahamas? It makes a difference.


  23. - JoanP - Thursday, Nov 17, 22 @ 4:12 pm:

    Sorry, that should have been:

    But failure to appear cannot be the sole reason . . .

    (Another day I wish there were an “edit” function here.)


  24. - Amalia - Thursday, Nov 17, 22 @ 4:20 pm:

    thanks, Joan P. but I disagree that it could not be the sole reason. a defendant’s past behavior could be absolutely predictive and should not be disallowed.


  25. - We've never had one before - Thursday, Nov 17, 22 @ 9:05 pm:

    >>>>How many police are going to ‘use their discretion’, and do nothing -

    - because they are following department policy to not arrest trespassers merely for trespassing?


Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.


* A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away
* Question of the day
* Today's must-read
* We have the receipts, Mr. Mayor
* Open thread
* Isabel’s morning briefing
* SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Supplement to today’s edition
* SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Today's edition of Capitol Fax (use all CAPS in password)
* Live coverage
* Selected press releases (Live updates)
* Yesterday's stories

Support CapitolFax.com
Visit our advertisers...

...............

...............

...............

...............

...............

...............


Loading


Main Menu
Home
Illinois
YouTube
Pundit rankings
Obama
Subscriber Content
Durbin
Burris
Blagojevich Trial
Advertising
Updated Posts
Polls

Archives
October 2024
September 2024
August 2024
July 2024
June 2024
May 2024
April 2024
March 2024
February 2024
January 2024
December 2023
November 2023
October 2023
September 2023
August 2023
July 2023
June 2023
May 2023
April 2023
March 2023
February 2023
January 2023
December 2022
November 2022
October 2022
September 2022
August 2022
July 2022
June 2022
May 2022
April 2022
March 2022
February 2022
January 2022
December 2021
November 2021
October 2021
September 2021
August 2021
July 2021
June 2021
May 2021
April 2021
March 2021
February 2021
January 2021
December 2020
November 2020
October 2020
September 2020
August 2020
July 2020
June 2020
May 2020
April 2020
March 2020
February 2020
January 2020
December 2019
November 2019
October 2019
September 2019
August 2019
July 2019
June 2019
May 2019
April 2019
March 2019
February 2019
January 2019
December 2018
November 2018
October 2018
September 2018
August 2018
July 2018
June 2018
May 2018
April 2018
March 2018
February 2018
January 2018
December 2017
November 2017
October 2017
September 2017
August 2017
July 2017
June 2017
May 2017
April 2017
March 2017
February 2017
January 2017
December 2016
November 2016
October 2016
September 2016
August 2016
July 2016
June 2016
May 2016
April 2016
March 2016
February 2016
January 2016
December 2015
November 2015
October 2015
September 2015
August 2015
July 2015
June 2015
May 2015
April 2015
March 2015
February 2015
January 2015
December 2014
November 2014
October 2014
September 2014
August 2014
July 2014
June 2014
May 2014
April 2014
March 2014
February 2014
January 2014
December 2013
November 2013
October 2013
September 2013
August 2013
July 2013
June 2013
May 2013
April 2013
March 2013
February 2013
January 2013
December 2012
November 2012
October 2012
September 2012
August 2012
July 2012
June 2012
May 2012
April 2012
March 2012
February 2012
January 2012
December 2011
November 2011
October 2011
September 2011
August 2011
July 2011
June 2011
May 2011
April 2011
March 2011
February 2011
January 2011
December 2010
November 2010
October 2010
September 2010
August 2010
July 2010
June 2010
May 2010
April 2010
March 2010
February 2010
January 2010
December 2009
November 2009
October 2009
September 2009
August 2009
July 2009
June 2009
May 2009
April 2009
March 2009
February 2009
January 2009
December 2008
November 2008
October 2008
September 2008
August 2008
July 2008
June 2008
May 2008
April 2008
March 2008
February 2008
January 2008
December 2007
November 2007
October 2007
September 2007
August 2007
July 2007
June 2007
May 2007
April 2007
March 2007
February 2007
January 2007
December 2006
November 2006
October 2006
September 2006
August 2006
July 2006
June 2006
May 2006
April 2006
March 2006
February 2006
January 2006
December 2005
April 2005
March 2005
February 2005
January 2005
December 2004
November 2004
October 2004

Blog*Spot Archives
November 2005
October 2005
September 2005
August 2005
July 2005
June 2005
May 2005

Syndication

RSS Feed 2.0
Comments RSS 2.0




Hosted by MCS SUBSCRIBE to Capitol Fax Advertise Here Mobile Version Contact Rich Miller