New York City’s bail and law reforms are now being emulated at the state level by Illinois. Yep, no bail needed for just about every crime up to, and including, murder. When I first read about this, I thought it was a joke – and then I read further. Yes, in 2023, the entire State of Illinois will go mostly bailless (along with other supposed justice reforms). What does bailless mean on a personal level.? Here are a couple of examples:
- You wake up after a restful sleep and decide, since it is Saturday, to mow the lawn as you have done many Saturdays before. You have a tool shed on your property and that is where the lawnmower is kept. You put your work clothes on, walk to the shed, open the door – and are greeted by a rather shaggy individual living in your shed. Apparently, said shaggy individual moved in while you and your wife were at work during the week and your kids were at school. Alarmed, you call the police figuring that they will arrest this individual for trespassing. Well, in 2023, they won’t arrest they will give him or her a ticket and leave you to figure out how to deal with this unkempt stranger. The police hope you won’t do something rash – remember the operative word is “hope”.
- Your wife goes to your local pharmacy to pick up a prescription. She hears a commotion inside but enters anyway (not a good idea). There inside the store is a deranged individual yelling, screaming, cursing and threatening. The individual is also throwing some things around aimlessly. The police have been called and arrive just after your wife talks to the pharmacist about the chaos. Your wife expects the police to arrest the individual. Well, in 2023, they won’t arrest they will give him or her a ticket and leave everyone in the pharmacy to figure out how to deal with this deranged stranger. The police hope nothing bad happens – remember the operative word is “hope”.
- You get a frantic call from your daughter, a 5th grader at your local public school. There is a stranger wandering around the school grounds and trying to get in one of the doors. The teachers have locked down the classrooms. Since this is a Chicago suburb, there is no school resource officer because those positions have been eliminated. You call the police and are told that they are on their way. You rush to the school fearing the worst. When you arrive, there are police everywhere and a couple of them are talking to an unusual individual. You hope the police will arrest the creep. Well, in 2023, they won’t arrest they will give the individual a ticket and leave. You collect your child from the school and vow never to let her back in that school. The police, of course, hope nothing further happens at the school – remember the operative word is “hope”.
Why is this situation about to happen? Well, you live, work and try to raise a family in a state run by Democrat socialists. In the name of fairness and to appease certain minority groups, they have eliminated cash bail for just about every criminal act. In addition, they will let a lot of people out of prison who have been held because they can’t afford bail or their crimes are now reconsidered as “low level”. They have also “demilitarized” the police and banned “excessive force” particularly chokeholds (if one police officer sees another police officer using “excessive force” he must intervene to stop the “excessive force” which could be perceived as police brutality.) Instead of better weapons for law enforcement, the police will wear body cameras that must be turned on at all times when investigating a potential crime. There are, of course, changes to pretrial detention and sentencing to make the justice system fairer (or easier to negotiate) for those arrested.
From my perspective, this is about saving money not improving community safety. The Illinois Safe-T “purge” law doesn’t create fewer criminals – it creates a situation for more of them. However, from a political standpoint, if criminals aren’t arrested and incarcerated, then they really don’t burden the community with increased prison costs, increased police arrest costs, and increased judicial costs. Of course, the victims don’t really matter in this calculus. They can either suck it up or leave the State —- or take the law into their own hands.
What would you do? I would sit down with my wife and come up with a plan to leave the state within a short period. Yes, my business would suffer and it is likely she would have to give up her employment – and the kids would lose some friends. But trying to live every day in fear, never knowing when something serious might happen, would override other considerations. It is obvious that the entire Illinois law enforcement and justice system has been corrupted by leftwing politicians and waiting for change just makes no sense. -Quite specifically, that individual still in my shed is just too close and unpredictable for comfort.
13 comments
It’s almost like Democrats want to destroy America. Wait, that IS true. They ruin everything they touch and hate everyone who stands in their way. Sickos.
You know, damn near everything you wrote is not based in facts, right? I know, links and references be damned around so I’ll just c&p. Edited for (hopeful) clarity.
“But the law doesn’t create a new classification of “non-detainable” offenses, as critics claim.
The new law states: “Detention only shall be imposed when it is determined that the defendant poses a specific, real and present threat to a person, or has a high likelihood of willful flight.” Additionally, those charged with “forcible felonies,” ones in which probation isn’t an option if convicted, can also be detained pretrial under the law following a required court hearing
Under the law, the state will allow judges to determine whether individuals accused of a wide range of crimes pose a risk to another individual or to the community at large, and then decide whether to hold them in pretrial detention or to release them on their own recognizance
Still, the new law does impose higher standards for determining who is considered a public threat or a flight risk, and critics are concerned it will make it nearly impossible to detain a suspect ahead of trial. Prosecutors will now have to show a defendant poses a threat to a “specific, identifiable person or persons,” rather than a more general threat to the community, or they’d have to show that the person has a “high likelihood of willful flight.”
I know, I know, actually reading something and not just spouting off bs constitutes “librul” around here……anywho.
I also know that NYC is one of the safest cities on the planet. If only Richmond, Danville, Portsmouth, et al could be so safe.
You might want to read the comments of Illinois sheriffs before you spout off.
What the Illinois Sheriffs are commenting on is not what esteemed author of this missive is asserting.
Try again
And to your partner in crime (get it?…..) yes, crime rates are up (again not what I was refuting) but yes, I am stating as a fact that NYC is STILL one of the safest cities on the planet (consistently top 25 in fact) and much, MUCH safer than most, if not all, of Va’s flagship cities.
There is a quite thorough article about the safe-t law on Fox News today. The situation is worse than the article portrays.
How do you know if a person is a threat? Apparently, you expect everyone to be a mind reader. I got news for you. If someone, as noted above, moves into my tool shed, I consider them a clear and present threat. They didn’t ask, they invaded. Further, they have immediate access to my axes, chain saw, and hay fork. And since they appear to be on drugs, their erratic behavior around my wife and children scares the hell out of all of us. People like you think of criminals as victims and to hell with honest people who can be victimized at the whim of the criminal.
Your comment about NYC is a denial of the facts. Crime rates are at the highest they have been in decades. Same applies to all Democrat run cities.
Um yes… Here is an interesting fact for you… first start with the binary premise of Hold or Release. No bond now… Here is an interesting fact:
Bounty hunters are people who have the authority of bond agents to arrest delinquent clients and deliver them to the appropriate authorities. They are usually paid a percentage of the bond amount. But they get paid only if they apprehend and return the fugitives. It’s no surprise that they’re so motivated—and often effective—at getting defendants back to court.
Do you know much about the criminal justice system Fact Boy? It is overwhelmed in the places which are most dangerous. Bounty hunters form an auxiliary force that is motivated to find fugitives…
So in most cases, the reality is… is that the police and prosecutors with 48 hours to provide evidence to hold someone can’t do it unless there is a huge criminal history, but most people are repeat offenders in the justice system so they would have to not grant release for many people… and have you seen criminal dockets where crime is the worst? Huge… So a lot of guys are going to be let go.. I read some crap about how some liberal think tank says that domestic violence will benefit from horseshit like this law… right… a guy who got picked up and let go is sure gonna be angry don’t you think?
As to NYC vs Richmond… Do you know the racial make up of the cities you say are more dnageour than NYC? The Majority of violence in Richmond occurs around the 6 large housing projects… I just thought you might like to consider Facts about crime.. since you are into facts.. You are a racist for suggesting that the nation’s African American communities I mean majority black cities have more crime.. Look at the stats Fact Boy…
But white liberals like yourself… while you espouse crap like this and vote for Soros funded DAs…. if you care about black lives you would endorse law and order, get them off the street laws and prosecutors… Black people have to live with your bullshit… you don’t… oh except San Fran… crime was spilling over to white liberals and out the Soros DA went..
The Safe-T Act was seen as Pritzker’s political gift from Illinois Democrats to the BLM rioters and other anti-law-enforcement political groups.
A peace offering. His miscalculation? Of the 102 state’s attorneys in Illinois each representing a county, only two prosecutors support the Safe-T Act.
One hundred Illinois county prosecutors consider Pritzker’s Safe-T Act to be dangerous to the public.
And, before you allow partisan politics to get in the way of your analysis, remember that most victims of violent crime are black and Latino.
Unfortunately, all of illinois is subject to this state law. Prosecutors who defy the law can be replaced. You are correct that this law is a payoff to BLM. Solution becomes armed resistance and to hell with a neutered police force.
Think about the recall of that Soros idiot DA in San Francisco… One of the most idiotic woke cities in America, where you will find as many intersectional flags as American flags, recalled a Soros DA! That is in the face of a stupid press that generally doesn’t report crime because that does not fit their narratives. So that means it got so bad on an experiential level that the idiots of San Fran actually had to wake up and stop their wokery… The incessant encounters with crazy drug addled zombies… having stuff stolen.. gangs of organized criminals robbing stores… stores closing because shoplifting is legalized.. a misdemeanor under 1000 dollars… And now Illinois another state of liberal morons enacted this horroshow… all those crap eating liberals in Chicago are going to have to be paying for private security firms.. I see Barack Zero doesn’t live there.. no he lives in DC and Martha’s vineyard. The police in DC DO patrol his neighborhood… Why doesn’t the community organizer go back to help his so called community?
Well, you are assuming that Illinois is a State when actually it’s a zoo. So, giving animals a ticket is what we call “the new eeeevolution”.
Wait till they pass a law in that shit hole that says that fentanyl is their new currency. If Republicans had righteousness instead of their BS evil, Democrats could not get elected. Problem is Republicans are nothing but thieves and liars.
Buy a car, pay for it with fentanyl. 😂😂😂😂😂😂 If a cop dares try to arrest a fentanylic, cop gets life in prison. Oh yea, justice matters.
The Mouseans are headed there next🐀🐀🐀🐀🐀🐀
Not that the GOP is often worth much… but at least you don’t get this absolute horrendous horse crap from them. The Dims patron, George Soros poured millions into DA elections over the past four years. Elections that should be 10k were amped up to 150k thanks to Georgie Soros… And the stupid liberals in many cities shut off their brains with their virtue signaling and elected his useless, stupid… criminal DAs… I believe Soros got the two idiots in Lowdown County and Fairfax elected… Lowdown county for sure..
This crap will be coming soon to VA if it is dumb enough.. and the crap eating liberals that live in Nova, Richmond and Tidewater ARE dumb enough and numerous enough to run the legislature…
While Joe’s FBIden is searching for domestic terrorists… street criminals run rampant with laws like Illinois is crapping onto its citizens… The categories of crime that are now no bail are staggering..
My advice is to avoid all the nasty blue cities… EXCEPT YOU Old Redneck, Armed Liberal, MASH character. You go there you proud Democrat nitwit… A street punk beating your brains in, won’t be facing bail… Social justice don’t you know Old Redneck…