(Jacob Bruns, Headline USA) As the state of Illinois plunges further into anarchy, law enforcement officers have said that they will be forced to release thousands of prisoners at the same time as the end of cash bail under the terms of new legislation.
The newly minted Illinois law, known as the SAFE-T Act, was introduced by the Illinois Black Caucus in response to the killing of leftist religious icon George Floyd, the Daily Mail reported.
The legislation would allow anyone who is arrested to be released based on the assumption of innocence guarantee under the United States Constitution. Only criminals accused of certain crimes — like forcible felonies, stalking and domestic abuse — will be exempt from pretrial release.
It was signed into law by Illinois Democrat Gov. JB Pritzker last February, and will go into effect in January. One Illinois law enforcement officer noted that in his county alone, over 400 criminals will be released onto the streets.
Pritzker, meanwhile, is being sued by 17 different state attorneys who are hoping to stop the law from going into effect. According to their argument, the law’s “pretrial fairness” provision violates 40 different state statutes in the Illinois State Constitution.
“It is of the utmost importance as a state attorney’s office that the Constitution is abided by on all levels,” Mercer County State Attorney Grace Simpson wrote in a statement.
“As the chief legal officer in Mercer County, it would be unethical to move forward with the implementation of the SAFE-T [Act], without properly raising those concerns to the court.”
Prtizker, however, accused law enforcement around the state of lying about the effects of the bill.
“No one is getting out of jail on January 1,” he claimed. “That is not what the SAFE-T Act does. There is no such thing as a non-detainable defense that is not in the SAFE-T Act.”
He claimed instead that he is teaming up with the Black Caucus and the American Civil Liberties Union to enforce the rule of law and to cure the American soul of its racism.
“The SAFE-T Act is designed to keep murderers and rapists and domestic abusers in jail,” he added. “Right now, they can buy their way out, we want to keep them in jail with a Pre-Trial Fairness Act.”
A former Illinois police chief from Riverside, Tom Weitzel, balked at that notion.
“This rule is just nothing short of ludicrous, and in no way, shape or form enhances public safety,” Weitzel said.
