Capitol Fax.com - Your Illinois News Radar » Will electronic monitoring replace cash bail?
SUBSCRIBE to Capitol Fax      Advertise Here      About     Exclusive Subscriber Content     Updated Posts    Contact Rich Miller
CapitolFax.com
To subscribe to Capitol Fax, click here.
Will electronic monitoring replace cash bail?

Monday, Sep 18, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller

* There’s so much info out there today that I thought I’d divide the SAFE-T Act implementation day into some chunks. Let’s start with electronic monitoring. Here’s Hannah Meisel

While Illinois isn’t any closer to creating a statewide public defender system, the Illinois Office of Statewide Pretrial Services represents a major step forward in providing resources to judicial systems across the state. Starting Oct. 1, OSPS will partner with 71 counties. For months, it’s been offering services such as compiling information about new arrestees. […]

In August, OSPS began oversight of electronic monitoring in participating counties, and began picking up the tab for those ordered to wear the GPS tracking devices – fees that would sometimes drive the poorest defendants into debt.

[St. Clair County Public Defender Cathy MacElroy] said she was glad her clients would no longer be saddled with the cost. But she also noted that in St. Clair County, electronic monitoring isn’t used “a ton.”

She predicted that, under the PFA, judges might even order ankle monitors less often, as prosecutors would have to present specific findings for why the GPS tracking would be necessary. The PFA requires judges to find the “least restrictive” pretrial conditions necessary for a defendant, and the law provides that individuals on electronic monitoring can have two days per week to move freely so they can accomplish daily tasks.

* Others disagree, according to the Tribune

Last month, the state rolled out a new program that will provide electronic monitoring in 70 counties, the first time it has been overseen by one agency across such a wide swath of Illinois, according to the Office of Statewide Pretrial Services.

But the Illinois Network for Pretrial Justice, an organization that worked to pass the abolition of cash bail, put out a statement criticizing the statewide electronic monitoring program, arguing that expanding such programs violate the “spirit” of the Pretrial Fairness Act.

“It feels like a half-baked plan that somebody put together to convince someone the (state is) doing something so that the streets aren’t running wild with criminals,” said James Kilgore, who works for a reentry program in downstate Champaign and is a researcher for an organization challenging electronic monitoring programs.

Kilgore said awaiting trial on house arrest can make it difficult for people to keep jobs and meet daily needs.

* WBEZ

The advocates are also voicing concerns about the Office of Statewide Pretrial Services, a new agency created by the Illinois Supreme Court. Cara Smith, the office’s director, announced in August that OSPS was assuming responsibility for electronic monitoring in 70 of the state’s 102 counties. Her announcement talked up EM as “a tool to reduce jail populations, including during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as to monitor domestic violence and other high-risk offenders.”

As of [last] week, those 70 counties have roughly 100 individuals on EM, Smith told WBEZ.

Smith’s announcement tied the electronic monitoring effort to this coming Monday, when cash bail ends: “By September 18th, active GPS electronic monitoring will be available to all OSPS counties at no cost to the county and at no cost to the defendant.”

But Smith said the timing does not mean her office is urging judges to order EM as a substitute for cash bail.

“It couldn’t be farther from the truth,” Smith said. “We are working to try to serve the counties whom we serve as their pretrial agency and have been working virtually around the clock to transition those existing cases over.”

* But

[McHenry County State’s Attorney Patrick Kenneally] said his office will find ways to ensure dangerous offenders remain behind bars pre-trial. When that is not possible, he said measures, such as electronic monitoring, will be put in place to minimize risk.

       

13 Comments
  1. - Notorious JMB - Monday, Sep 18, 23 @ 10:38 am:

    The other side of the coin on this is that sometimes cash bail is the only way the victims receive restitution. My grandparents never had much more than minimum wage jobs and owned a small trucking company that at its best broke even. A few years ago, one of the local crackheads stole about 20 thousand dollars worth of equipment off of them. The judge ordered him to pay restitution but being an unemployable drug addict he doesnt have a job, there is no income to garnish, and the only time my grandparents ever saw any money was when he was arrested and posted bail. They have since retired as the years have caught up with them and they are dealing with significant health issues.

    With the end of cash bail they are not going to see the money owed at a time in their life when they could really use it.


  2. - Give Us Barabbas - Monday, Sep 18, 23 @ 10:46 am:

    Jailed in your house is still being jailed. If you’re being charged for the ankle monitor, that’s the same as paying bail. Aren’t ankle monitors supposed to be for flight risks or people under an order of protection to stay away from a certain place or person? Say, an accused wife beater?


  3. - Oswego Willy - Monday, Sep 18, 23 @ 11:16 am:

    ===The other side of the coin on this is that sometimes cash bail is the only way the victims receive restitution===

    Is one presumed innocent, first?

    This presumes guilt, no?

    So I’m understanding correctly. Thanks.


  4. - Oswego Willy - Monday, Sep 18, 23 @ 11:27 am:

    - Notorious JMB -

    So I’m clear and using frivolous shorthand which seems callous, there’s an overarching effect with micro examples that prove the rule.

    The goal of the law versus the impact to what is in cases that might even be seen different now as opposed to then, this kind of Act is changing more than laws, it’s changing culture and how we all see pretrial incarceration.

    That’s why I asked, as I asked, not to the pointed example you gave.

    With respect.


  5. - Rabid - Monday, Sep 18, 23 @ 11:30 am:

    You violate your monitor, you go back to jail?


  6. - Chicagonk - Monday, Sep 18, 23 @ 11:34 am:

    Criminal rights groups continue to move the goal posts - electronic monitoring is clearly their next target.


  7. - Lowdrag - Monday, Sep 18, 23 @ 11:40 am:

    For some the ankle monitor may work, others not so much!


  8. - Johnny Pneumonic - Monday, Sep 18, 23 @ 11:42 am:

    Is this the same Cara Smith who was a top advisor to Sherriff Tom Dart, and was appointed to be a judge in an overwhelmingly Black sub- circuit despite her total lack of courtroom experience?

    Appointed to the bench by none other than Justice Ann Burke?

    I mean, you can see why people have questions about her commitment to equity, liberty and Justice.


  9. - DuPage Saint - Monday, Sep 18, 23 @ 11:47 am:

    Since you get credit for having a monitor I would think you would be happy to have a monitor. Wear it stretch out your case for a year or two get sentenced to two years get a day for a day so out in a year then get a year credit for monitor end up no prison time


  10. - Excitable Boy - Monday, Sep 18, 23 @ 12:00 pm:

    - sometimes cash bail is the only way the victims receive restitution -

    That isn’t the purpose of bail.


  11. - Leap Day William - Monday, Sep 18, 23 @ 12:02 pm:

    == Criminal rights groups continue to move the goal posts - electronic monitoring is clearly their next target. ==

    Nobody is a criminal until they’re convicted, unless you disagree with the fundamental belief that one is innocent until proven guilty. Is that the position you are taking?


  12. - Notorious JMB - Monday, Sep 18, 23 @ 2:47 pm:

    OW. Thank you for the clarification, your second comment was much better received than the first. Criminal justice is not my area of expertise, but I am familiar with the arguments behind the new law. My question is, what is the solution for people like my grandparents who were victims as determined in a court of law? Are they just left without any recompense?


  13. - Oswego Willy - Monday, Sep 18, 23 @ 2:52 pm:

    ===for people like my grandparents===

    I can’t speak to, nor will I, to your own example, and I appreciate you hearing/reading my clarification, thank you. Because of that, bail then, or now to that case if presented, that’s up to first if there’s bail at all.

    The question remains, these are alleged crimes, presuming guilt is the question to an overall.

    Be well, my best forward with your family too.


Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.


* Reader comments closed for the holiday weekend
* DPI crows about down-ballot wins; ILGOP chair upbeat
* SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Campaign update
* Isabel’s afternoon roundup (Updated x2)
* SUBSCRIBERS ONLY: Veto session update
* A vile example of why wireless companies need to crack down hard on mass texting
* Uber’s Local Partnership = Stress-Free Travel For Paratransit Riders
* Trump stuff
* SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Another update to today's edition
* SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Update to today's edition
* Showcasing The Retailers Who Make Illinois Work
* Welch says he has secured the votes for another term as House Speaker
* Some views from Little Village
* Roundup: Madigan corruption trial
* Open thread
* Isabel’s morning briefing
* 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
November 2024
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