Crime Law Defended At La Grange Meeting

LA GRANGE, IL – An Illinois lawmaker told the La Grange Village Board this week the state's new crime law would do a better job keeping dangerous people in jail.

Taking effect Jan. 1, the law, known as the SAFE-T Act, ends the cash bail system. Judges then must decide whether to keep a defendant in jail based on risk.

But critics contend the hurdles are too high for prosecutors to prove that a person is dangerous enough to be kept in jail.

At Monday's Village Board meeting, state Rep. La Shawn Ford, D-Chicago, said a person's ability to pay bail will no longer be a factor in detaining that person.

"Judges will have more power to hold dangerous people in jail because they'll make the decision based on a public safety assessment, not simply off an ability to pay," said Ford, whose district includes part of La Grange. "We believe that if it is based on risk, that will keep violent people locked up in jail."

He said more than 50 people accused of murder are out on bail awaiting trial in Cook County. That's because the bail system is not based on defendants' risk to society, but on whether they will return to court, he said.

La Grange Trustee Michael Kotynek said he and his constituents are concerned that crime in Chicago is at historic highs. And he said many people are out on bail and on the streets committing carjackings and robberies.

He asked Ford how the new law would improve that situation.

Ford said Kotynek identified the problem.

"You said Chicago has a lot of violent people out right now, and they're not detained," Ford said. "That's because the current system allows for that."

As of January, the lawmaker said, judges will have two choices – detain or not detain.

"You detain the person in jail or you let them go by signing your name to the release. Judges will not let carjackers out. Judges will not let murderers out of jail with a risk to our communities," he said. "That's what's happening right now, and we know that if judges are given the power, they will make the right decisions."

The current cash bail system hinders public safety, Ford said.

"Right now, drug dealers have lots of money, and they can buy their way out of jail," he said. "That's happening right now. It won't happen in January."

At the same time, he said the law, passed in January 2021, is a "work in progress." He said changes would be made.

"We realize we have work to do before Jan. 1," Ford said.

He did not identify which specific changes would be made.

The legislature goes back into session in November.