While they welcome a judge’s ruling Wednesday that lifting cash bail is unconstitutional in Illinois, the state’s Republicans still say there’s a mess – and Democrats are to blame.
The Pretrial Fairness Act was to take effect Sunday. But dozens of state’s attorneys filed suit, and a Kankakee County judge presided over a consolidation of those lawsuits.
State Rep. Patrick Windhorst (pictured) (R-Metropolis), a former Massac County state’s attorney, responded to a question Thursday about the attorney general’s assertion that the new law will still be basically in effect statewide.
“My understanding is that those counties that were involved in the lawsuit are the ones affected by the lawsuit. Those counties that are not would still fall under the Safe-T Act, the full portion of which will go into effect Jan. 1.
“That’s why we need the parties to come together to ask the Supreme Court to make it statewide, and why the legislature should have acted to delay implementation to allow the courts to have a complete ruling.”
In fact, House Minority Leader Jim Durkin (R-Western Springs), joining Windhorst on a Zoom call Thursday, said the high court should order a stay.