State’s lawyer’s from Kane, Kendall and DuPage counties are voicing considerations the Security, Accountability, Equity and Fairness-Immediately Act signed into legislation final yr by Gov. JB Pritzker might end in extra violent criminals roaming free.
They talked about their considerations throughout a discussion board Thursday evening on the Eola Neighborhood Heart in Aurora. The discussion board was hosted by State Sen. Linda Holmes, D-Aurora.
Their considerations heart across the elimination of the state’s money bail system efficient Jan. 1, 2023. They’re frightened the best way the brand new legislation is written, prosecutors have little say in who may be stored in custody.
Kane County State’s Lawyer Jamie Mosser was elected within the fall of 2020, a number of months earlier than the SAFE-T Act was handed by the Illinois Basic Meeting in January 2021.
“I used to be one of many opponents to it when it got here out,” she stated. “I’m very a lot in favor of prison justice reform, however I’m in favor of prison justice reform as guided by public security.”
She has been working with different state’s lawyer’s and state legislators to repair elements of the SAFE–Act. Mosser stated she is in favor of abolishing money bail, though she stated the laws must be rewritten to forestall violent offenders from being launched.
“I consider that in case you are a hazard to our group, you have to be held in jail,” she stated. “And simply because you could have cash doesn’t imply it’s best to be capable of bond out. However in case you are not a hazard and also you’re being advised that it’s important to publish cash and also you don’t have that, holding you in jail is just not truthful both. So there’s a method to do that the correct method.”
In a letter she wrote to state legislators final yr, she criticized the language within the invoice as “stopping judges from holding an offender with a number of DUIs, drug sellers and individuals who illegally possess or shoot weapons after we can’t establish a risk to an individual or individuals.”
Kendall County State’s Lawyer Eric Weis and DuPage County State’s Lawyer Bob Berlin additionally voiced their considerations in regards to the SAFE-T Act.
“You’ll be able to put no matter title you need on a invoice,” Weis stated. “The SAFE-T Act. Sounds nice. Who’s not in favor of security? Who’s not in favor of pre-trial equity? How might you not be in favor of that? However when that equity jeopardizes victims, when that equity jeopardizes residents of our group and when it jeopardizes legislation enforcement, that’s when it’s important to take a step again and take a look at what are we truly doing.”
Weis stated the best way the invoice is at the moment drafted, “violent criminals are going to get out.”
“As prosecutors, we’ve to indicate a particular risk to carry that particular person,” he stated. “And it appears very odd that if you happen to’re profitable in murdering someone, you will get out, but when I wasn’t profitable, if I didn’t shoot properly sufficient and the particular person didn’t die, I may be held…Everyone knows that the correct factor to do is to right this in order that we will tackle the considerations that we as prosecutors should hold our residents secure, our victims secure, but additionally enable those that don’t must be in custody to be launched on digital monitoring or dwelling confinement or one thing that permits them to proceed to be productive members of society.”
He hopes that state legislators could make modifications within the SAFE-T Act sooner quite than later.
“Hopefully they may accomplish that earlier than one thing dangerous has to occur for us to then should react to it after which attempt to change the legislation later,” Weis stated.
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As Berlin famous, a violent crime can have an effect on a whole group.
“Take as an illustration, the December capturing at Oakbrook Mall two days earlier than Christmas,” he stated. “I hear from so many individuals locally that are actually afraid to go to that mall. That’s the sort of impression {that a} capturing has on a whole group.”
Berlin was involved about extra violent criminals being in a group due to the brand new legislation.
“And analysis has proven that lots of them reoffend, and that’s actually unlucky,” he stated. ‘We’re hoping that we will repair that.”
Holmes stated she does like a number of the measures within the invoice, particularly on the subject of psychological well being and disaster intervention.
“With the police that I’ve talked to, they’d be completely happy to have a psychological well being skilled go on these home calls with them when someone appears to wish that form of help,” she stated. “However by the identical token, you wouldn’t need only a psychological well being specialist going into these conditions with out having the backup of the police.”
