* Matthew Hendrickson at the Sun-Times has a good preview of Monday’s official elimination of cash bail. You should definitely read the whole thing…

Among the biggest unknowns is how often prosecutors will request detention and how judges will rule.

[McHenry County State’s Attorney Patrick Kenneally], for example, said he was planning on filing a petition for detention on every eligible case under the law.

“We think the nature of the offense itself in the vast majority of cases will indicate the dangerousness of the defendant,” he said in an interview with the Sun-Times last week. “There will of course be exceptions.”

Some prosecutors worry how the public will react if they learn they did not seek detention for someone who then commits another crime. Typically, judges have been blamed for not setting high enough bail in such cases. Now prosecutors will face more responsibility.

Good point.

* We move from an informative story to typical teevee scare tactics. Andy Banker at Fox 2 News in St. Louis…

There are big concerns in a small town in Randolph County, Illinois, about a man accused of setting someone on fire and killing them.

People in Red Bud, Illinois, about 35 miles southeast of St. Louis, fear Shawn Porter may be freed from jail on Monday while awaiting trial.

Monday is the day Illinois becomes the first state in America to ban cash bail.

Porter, 48, is charged with a single count of first-degree murder.

Court documents say he set his neighbor, Donald Steibel, 76, on fire at Steibel’s home in June. A standoff ensued at Porter’s home, a half block away, according to authorities. Porter allegedly threatened police and threatened to set his home on fire before surrendering.

Multiple Red Bud residents told FOX 2 they fear Porter’s potential release. They also asked not to be identified because of that fear.

“We don’t want him out either, and we’re going to do everything we can to keep him from getting out,” Randolph County State’s Attorney James Kelley said.

Kelley, who is prosecuting the case, wouldn’t go into specific details about pending cases, but said all 15 cash bail suspects now in the Randolph County Jail would be eligible for detention hearings on Monday. […]

They’ll be watching closely in Red Bud.

DUN DUN DUUUNN!

First degree murder is a non-probational offense, so all the judge has to do is determine whether there’s clear evidence Porter committed the crime, and that Porter either poses a real and present threat or is a flight risk and nothing can be done to mitigate that risk. According to the Randolph County inmate list, Porter had an IDOC warrant and was being held on no bail for that. He’s also been charged with Aggravated Battery/Great Bodily Harm, Obstructing Justice and Resisting a Peace Officer.

It would take a massive screwup on the state’s attorney’s part or a completely bonkers judge for that guy to get out of jail.

* KMOV…

If a judge allows a suspect to be released under pre-trial conditions, a prosecutor can request the suspect remain in jail and then the judge can grant or deny the request. Victims must be notified if a suspect is released.

“It’s a great start on the road to racial and economic dignity,” said Larita Rice-Barnes, executive director of the Metro East Organizing Coalition. A grassroots organization aimed at ending mass incarceration. “The truth is this is not about safety–this is about people’s ability to have money.”

“I think there’s potential for thefts and burglaries to increase,” Monroe County Sheriff Neal Rohlfing said. “A lot the investigative part and reports need to get done a lot quicker.”

Sheriff Rohlfing told First Alert 4 more resources are needed to keep up with new demands of ending cash bail, which means taxpayers might have to foot the bill.

* Sophie Sherry at the Sun-Times…

Over and over, a woman who lost a daughter to domestic violence talked of how the criminal justice system “just didn’t care,” repeatedly releasing a man from jail until police say he finally made good on his threats.

“I think that if they take it seriously the first time then, the people, the perpetrators won’t so easily keep doing what they do,” said the woman, who asked not to be named. “If they would have taken it seriously the first time and especially the second time… They just didn’t care enough.”

Advocates say the bail reform that takes effect Monday should make victims of domestic and sexual violence safer — if prosecutors and judges take full advantage of the law.

Under the Pretrial Fairness Act, judges no longer will be able to require people to post money in order to be released ahead of trial. But the law allows people to be jailed, possibly until their trial, if they are charged with violent crimes like sexual assault and domestic attacks.

“This prioritizes risk over money,” said Christine Raffaele of the Illinois Coalition Against Domestic Violence. “Money never made anybody safe.”

* St. Louis NPR…

[Kyle Napp, chief criminal judge in Illinois’ 3rd Circuit] and [Chief Judge Andrew Gleeson of Illinois’ 20th Circuit] said both courthouses and jails have not been detaining defendants accused of lower level misdemeanors. With the SAFE-T Act’s implementation, that shouldn’t change.

“I would hazard a guess that there is not one person sitting in our jail right now who wouldn’t be sitting in our jail under the SAFE-T Act,” Napp said.

* WEEK TV…

Peoria County State’s Attorney Jodi Hoos said her office is ready. Sheriff Chris Watkins said his office is prepared, though they will have to wait and see the effects. […]

“We will still be able to detain all those violent offenders that we detain today,” Hoos said. “Shootings, murderers, home invasions, assaults, all those cases.” […]

“People get released and then they commit new crimes,” [Knox County State’s Attorney Jeremy Karlin] said of the current system. “The SAFE-T Act isn’t really going to change that.”

Karlin said his office has also purposefully asked for a high bond to keep someone detained, and then were surprised when they raised the funds to pay. In their small community, they know defendants and their histories well.

* Former Justice Eileen O’Neill Burke has taken some flak for her ties to Republicans, but the Cook County state’s attorney candidate just released this statement on the SAFE-T Act…

Days before Illinois’ SAFE-T Act goes into effect, Democratic Candidate for Cook County State’s Attorney Justice Eileen O’Neill Burke released a video with her thoughts on the new law and the critical nature of the upcoming election to ensure its implementation furthers both safety and justice.

TRANSCRIPT — Eileen O’Neill Burke:

“The SAFE-T Act is a seminal piece of legislation. It’s also known as the Pretrial Fairness Act. What it does is it changes the way we detain people pretrial.

“Under the current system that is based on their monetary capability, and I think we can all agree that is not a just system. The SAFE-T Act rectifies that.

“What the SAFE-T Act does is it says the only criterion to be held prior to trial is, are you a danger to the community, or are you not?

“The State’s Attorney’s office role in pretrial detention has been expanded exponentially from this legislation. So what that means is, the State’s Attorney has to petition to detain someone pretrial before a court can even consider it. So if that document, that petition, is not filed, the trial court has no authority to detain someone pre-trial.

“It doesn’t matter if it’s a murder, an armed robbery, a sexual assault, if the state does not file that petition to detain, the judge cannot hold someone.

“We are the first, and if we do this correctly, if we implement it correctly, then New York follows, California follows, and we have pushed the justice system into a more just and equitable future.

“We cannot fail in its implementation, and that’s why the role of the state’s attorney and this election is so vitally important.”

* From the Illinois Supreme Court…

Illinois has a long history of pretrial reform efforts starting with the abolishment of bail bondsmen in 1963. Those efforts continue as Illinois becomes the first state to abolish cash bail on Sept. 18. The Illinois Supreme Court has taken significant steps to prepare the Judicial Branch for pretrial reform. These efforts began with the formation of the Commission on Pretrial Practices in 2017, which consisted of all three branches of government and criminal justice stakeholders. The Commission issued its final report in 2020 and that led to the creation of the Pretrial Implementation Task Force (Task Force).

The Task Force worked throughout 2022 to prepare and educate the public and stakeholders on the Pretrial Fairness Act (PFA). That work went right up to December when a court ruling and action by the Illinois Supreme Court paused implementation. Additional steps taken by the Supreme Court and its related bodies are detailed below ahead of Sept. 18.

Click here to read the rest. It’s pretty comprehensive.