Safe-T Act Ruling: DuPage Co. State's Attorney Weighs In

DUPAGE COUNTY — Now that the Illinois Supreme Court has ruled that the Safe-T act eliminating cash bail is constitutional, local lawmakers are weighing in, including DuPage County State's Attorney Robert Berlin.

On July 18, the Illinois Supreme Court ruled that the Safe-T Act was constitutional by a vote of 5 to 2. The move eliminated cash bail in Illinois.

Berlin shared a statement the same day, saying he was "very proud of the improvements" made to the Safe-T act by a committee made up of him and two other state's attorneys who had been called on to work on amendments to the act.

“This morning, the Illinois Supreme Court found the Pre-Trial Fairness provision of the amended Safe-T-Act constitutional," Berlin said.

Changes to the act allow judges to take certain factors into account when determining whether someone is eligible for pretrial release, including whether the defendant is a flight risk as well as the danger they may pose to the community.

Berlin added that the many of the changes he, Champaign County State’s Attorney Julia Rietz and Kane County State’s Attorney Jamie Mosser suggested before Illinois's Supreme Court's ruling had been passed by the Illinois General Assembly and were made into law in December 2022.

He continued, "These amendments go a long way in rectifying many, but not all, of the anticipated problems and restore some measure of judicial discretion at bond hearings."

"Public safety remains my top priority and I will continue to advocate, as I have from the beginning, for a pretrial system similar to that in New Jersey which allows judges to detain a person for any crime where prosecutors prove by clear and convincing evidence that the defendant will not appear in court, the defendant poses a danger to any other person or the community, or the defendant will obstruct or attempt to obstruct justice, or threaten, injure, intimidate or attempt to threaten, injure or intimidate a prospective witness or juror," Berlin said.

"Such a system will improve public safety by ensuring that violent people are detained pretrial while those who are not a threat to the community are released."

The new law is set to take effect Sept. 18.