Cash bail disproportionately impacts communities of color. Illinois is the first state to abolish it
But Illinois is about to overhaul the system that upended Ross’ life. Illinois’ Pretrial Fairness Act, which abolishes cash bail as a condition of pretrial release, will take effect Sept. 18, making Illinois the first state to end cash bail and a testing ground for whether — and how — it works on a large scale.
Judges can still keep people accused of serious crimes behind bars pretrial, but first would have to go through a more rigorous review of each case.
Critics say cash bail policies are especially unfair to Black people and other people of color. A 2022 federal civil rights report on cash bail systems found that courts tend to impose higher pretrial detention penalties on Black and Latino people, citing a study that showed Black men received bail amounts 35% higher than white men, and Latino men received bail amounts 19% higher than white men.
When Pritzker first got elected I was incredibly dubious. After all, we already had Trump as President and here is Pritzker, another hotel magnate, claiming he could do great things for Illinois. I have since been pretty impressed with everything he has done.
He’s kinda been crushing it. Definitely a pleasant surprise. I think putting 50 million of his own dollars towards campaigning for a tax system that would dramatically raise his own taxes was a pretty impressive demonstration that his approach is a bit different from Trump’s.
Also women’s healthcare, refugee support structures, LGBT inclusivity, legal recreational weed, union support, Election Day as a state holiday…the dude doesn’t suck.
If only he could allow Illinois citizens to grow their own weed.
Nah. Still gotta look out for his buddies, lol.
Makes it easier for the next governor to do, so don't let perfect be the enemy of good. I live in a state where I can take a huge amount of these things for granted, but as a result I feel like there's less of a push to change things that are still a problem, so I'm always happy to see Midwestern states making progress because it motivates people in other states to make change too.
I agree. Im disapointed in the lack of grow but we are in an oasis for our neighbors. Honestly might as well suck up the tax revenue until the holdout states invariably cave.
You just need a medical marijuana card, but finding a doctor who will issue one is a different story.
same