Kankakee County Circuit Judge Thomas Cunnington on Wednesday ruled that the bail reform and pre-trial release provisions of the controversial SAFE-T Act are unconstitutional.
According to Kankakee County State's Attorney Jim Rowe, the ruling means that those portions of the law will not go into effect as had been expected Jan. 1 in the 65 counties that sued to overturn the law, including Madison County. Other provisions of the SAFE-T Act, including unfunded mandates such as body cameras and training, were upheld.
Defendants included Gov. JB Pritzker, Attorney General Kwame Raoul, Senate President Don Harmon and House Speaker Christopher Welch.
Cunnington held the law unconstitutional on the basis that the SAFE-T Act violates the separation of powers clause, violates the Victim Rights Act and unconstitutionally amends Article I Section 9 of the Constitution because voters were denied their right to vote on such amendments. He found that "had the Legislature wanted to change the provisions in the Constitution regarding eliminating monetary bail...they should have submitted the question on the ballot to the electorate at a general election."
He further stated that the Legislature's action in violation of separation of powers "stripped away" the court's ability to ensure the safety of the victim and victim's family.
Kankakee County and Will County were the first to file suit before 63 additional counties joined, including Madison County. The Illinois Supreme Court consolidated the cases into the Kankakee County case.
According to a press release by Madison County State’s Attorney Tom Haine, the counties were collectively represented by a litigation team consisting of the state’s attorneys and their assistant state’s attorneys from Kankakee, Will, Vermilion, Kendall, McHenry and Sangamon Counties. The parties argued their positions before Cunnington on Dec. 20. Wednesday’s ruling concludes the state court action. However, Pritzker is expected to appeal to the Illinois Supreme Court.
“Yesterday’s ruling on the SAFE-T Act was welcome news across the state,” Haine said. “As this ruling explains, the core of this 765-page bill – the elimination of judicial discretion over monetary bail – was an attempt by the General Assembly to amend the bail provisions of our Illinois Constitution without giving the citizens their Constitutionally-required opportunity to vote on such an amendment. Thankfully, due to this ruling, the elimination of cash bail has been halted in Madison County for now. But, this is far from over. We expect the defendants to appeal, and if so, Madison County will continue the fight against this law in the court system along with the other litigating parties.”
State Sen. Jason Plummer (R-Edwardsville) said the ruling was good news for the people of Illinois and law enforcement "that Illinois courts are challenging the egregious and dangerous mistakes of the Governor and his allies in the legislature.
"While there is no doubt more to come, I applaud the decision of this court, and will stand firm with the millions of Illinoisans who simply want to live in safe communities.”
Pritzker issued the following statement on Cunnington's ruling:
“Today’s ruling is a setback for the principles we fought to protect through the passage of the SAFE-T Act. The General Assembly and advocates worked to replace an antiquated criminal justice system with a system rooted in equity and fairness. We cannot and should not defend a system that fails to keep people safe by allowing those who are a threat to their community the ability to simply buy their way out of jail. I thank the Attorney General for his work on this case and look forward to the Illinois Supreme Court taking up the appeal as soon as possible.”