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* Cash bail is a very complicated and emotional issue and Downstate law enforcement is up in arms about it…
Two years after passing a significant bail bond reform law, some Illinois lawmakers are now considering doing away with cash bail altogether.
Supporters of that idea say it would bring greater fairness to the system, especially for low-income people charged with relatively minor offenses.
But prosecutors and law enforcement officials warn that such a move could have far-reaching consequences, including putting victims of domestic violence at risk and taking away the ability of local courts to fund services for crime victims. […]
Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx, who supports eliminating cash bail, said that before the 2017 reforms, the system of requiring people to post cash bonds was not keeping violent felons off the street.
“One of the costs of doing business in some of these violent enterprises is going to jail,” she said. […]
“In our county, we take in roughly about a half million dollars in bond a year, and that money fuels our criminal justice system,” [McDonough County Sheriff Nick Petitgout] said. “Things like victims services, court appointed special advocates, teen court, diversion programs, the treasurer’s office, the circuit clerk’s office, the sheriff’s office.”
* This House bill passed the Senate Executive Committee yesterday on a partisan roll call and now heads to the floor for what’s likely to be final action…
A bill sponsored by State Senator Robert Peters (D-Chicago) would ban state agencies or units of local government from conducting business with privately owned civil detention centers.
The bill is an initiative of the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee rights in response to a March vote by the Board of Trustees in Dwight approving plans to build a 1,200 bed privately owned detention facility. Once built, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency could potentially contract with this facility. The bill would prevent this from happening.
“Privately owned detention centers are run with a profit motive, which creates an incentive for people to become bad actors as a way to cut costs and save money at the expense of living conditions,” Peters said. “These cruel institutions have no place in our modern society.”
A civil detention center is an institution used to detain people for reasons other than having been charged with or convicted of a crime, including immigration detention centers, juvenile detention centers and mental health facilities. They differ from criminal detention centers in that they are neither a jail nor a prison.
* The 3rd Reading deadline was extended to tomorrow on this bill…
Under legislation expected to receive a vote this week, contractors on state capital projects would be forced to pay their suppliers and subcontractors on a tighter schedule.
“This is to help our small businesses grow,” state Sen. Ram Villivalam, D-Chicago, said during a news conference Tuesday at the Capitol.
Villivalam’s legislation, Senate Bill 104, shortens from 15 calendar days to seven business days the payment deadline for a construction project’s prime contractor to pay the smaller subcontractors and material suppliers of a project.
* Other bills…
* Sun-Times Editorial: Let the public, not a law, push corporate boards to be more diverse: If ever there were a case where public and shareholder pressure makes more sense than another law, this is it.
* Keep private, for-profit detention facilities for immigrants out of Illinois
posted by Rich Miller
Wednesday, May 1, 19 @ 12:21 pm
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So they have 500K in bail that is jumped? Isn’t bail supposed to repaid unless the person doesn’t appear?
It would seem taking advantage of the ‘bail float’ would be a bit risky.
Comment by OneMan Wednesday, May 1, 19 @ 12:32 pm
The issue with cash bail is that too many judges use high money bail to avoid having to determine the defendant poses a risk and can be detained. Maybe if defendants appealed their bail decisions, appellate courts could require judges to apply existing law (where money bail is a last resort).
Comment by Anon Wednesday, May 1, 19 @ 12:35 pm
Oneman - the local court keeps a percentage of bail.
Comment by Anon Wednesday, May 1, 19 @ 12:36 pm
Cash bail creates crime: https://nicic.gov/hidden-costs-pretrial-detention
Illinois should be a leader in abolishing it.
Also, if you have a carceral system that can’t run without imposing crushing costs on poor/black/brown people who’ve been convicted of nothing, maybe you should be thinking of ways to end that system instead of bemoaning the loss of funding.
Comment by Anon Wednesday, May 1, 19 @ 12:45 pm
=Under legislation expected to receive a vote this week, contractors on state capital projects would be forced to pay their suppliers and subcontractors on a tighter schedule.=
What’s the timeframe for the state paying the prime? {Sigh}
Comment by {Sigh} Wednesday, May 1, 19 @ 12:46 pm
Oneman - the local court keeps a percentage of bail.
Thanks
Is that true in all cases or just in case of a conviction?
Comment by OneMan Wednesday, May 1, 19 @ 12:53 pm
How about requiring that bail be based upon the income of the accused, with the same percentage of income charged regardless of income. That would be the flat tax principle, as opposed to the regressive tax principle.
Comment by anon2 Wednesday, May 1, 19 @ 1:21 pm
The clerk keeps 10% in all instances under 725 ILCS 5/110-7(a). I am not certain if the clerk gets 10% if the bond is used to satisfy fees imposed after a conviction.
Comment by anon Wednesday, May 1, 19 @ 1:43 pm
anon2 - its a really tricky issue to go into basing it on income alone. Do indigent defendants get a freebie, when others don’t? Federal courts allow cash bail and allow that someone who cannot pay the bail will stay in jail, but courts rarely impose it. Instead, federal judges are not afraid to outright detain individuals.
Comment by anon Wednesday, May 1, 19 @ 1:46 pm
@oneman and anon2. Generally, once the case is concluded, the clerk returns 90% of the amount posted unless the judge orders otherwise no matter what the outcome of the case is. Defendants post 10% of the bond set except in certain types of cases where a judge can order the defendant to post 100% of the bond amount set.
The legislature has given the courts a lengthy list of things to consider when setting bond. This list includes consideration of the defendant’s ability to make bond. Judges typically consider the defendant’s criminal background including whether a defendant has missed past court dates.
Comment by Bourbon Street Wednesday, May 1, 19 @ 1:48 pm
could retain cash bail for repeat jumpers; so give them the first bite of the apple for free, but then have put up 10% bond after that; also of course Cook County is against cash bail as they have second largest county jail population in America…
Comment by Adm Stockd'le Wednesday, May 1, 19 @ 1:51 pm
The scam of funding court/court services through filing fees, a cut of bail, etc. is not good government!
Comment by d. p. gumby Wednesday, May 1, 19 @ 4:00 pm