Kane County Sheriff Ron Hain, State Sen. Don DeWitte, R-St. Charles and Kane County State’s Attorney Jamie Mosser are stepping in after a Kankakee judge ruled late Wednesday night that parts of the SAFE-T law were unconstitutional.
Thomas Cunnington, Chief Justice of the 21st Judicial Circuit, ruled that the provision of the law that eliminates cash bail for defendants deprives “the courts of their inherent authority to administer and control their courtrooms and to set bail. ”.
Cunnington held that the pre-trial provisions of the SAFE-T Act “violate that principle of separation of powers that underpins our system of governance by depriving the courts of their inherent authority to administer and control their courtrooms and to set a bond”.
However, the ruling does not apply to Kane County, only the counties involved in the lawsuit. Kane County was not part of the lawsuit filed earlier this year, when nearly 60 Illinois prosecutors challenged the SAFE-T law by filing suits against Governor JB Pritzker, Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul and others.
In a statement, DeWitte said he “applauded” Cunnington for the move.
“The Legislative Democrats thumbed their noses at the Illinois Constitution when they took it upon themselves to insert the legislative branch of government into the separate but equal judiciary with respect to criminal justice.
“If the Democrats had included the Republicans in the process and heeded the warnings that their hastily passed SAFE-T law was fraught with constitutionality issues, we would not be facing the utter chaos that would surely ensue since this decision was made just three days before the counties. are expected to implement the provisions of the Non-Cash Payment Act. There are over 30 counties that will now have to scramble to determine if they can pause implementation or should move forward with the changes on Jan. 1,” DeWitte said.
Hain said in a press release: “As of today, we are still on track to move forward with ‘business as usual’ on January 1, 2023, with enhanced training, implement body cameras and policies to meet all SAFE-T Act on needs and requirements.
Mosser said she is “reviewing the decision within our circuit for its applicability here and in other counties.”
“We are also waiting to see if the Attorney General [Kwame Raoul] file petitions with the Illinois Supreme Court before making decisions,” she wrote in a text message.
The current cash bond system, which in most cases allows offenders to deposit a dollar amount to be released before trial, will be replaced with a system in which a judge assesses the risk the individual poses to the community. and the potential for leaking prosecution to determine whether the pretrial release will be revoked.
Capitol News Illinois and Shaw Local reporter Felix Sarver contributed to this report.