Crime

Grandstanding Prosecutor Says Releasing Suspects Endangers The Public If The State Isn't Making Money Off It... Otherwise It's Fine

The bail reform narrative consists of a toxic brew of lies and ignorance.

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Close up hand of woman prisoner holding old iron bar in jail.Illinois State’s Attorney, Jacqueline Lacy, is suing the governor and AG over the state’s new bail reform law. Presumably, this will earn her some free air time on local news — maybe even Newsmax! What it won’t do is tangle with the most damning problem facing bail reform opponents: they’re still in favor of letting suspects go free.

Because the thing with bail reform is that it only applies in cases where the state was going to let the person go anyway. Murder suspects aren’t getting turned loose because of bail reform — the law excludes the category of forcible felonies under Illinois law. Low-level, mostly non-violent folks that would otherwise be free if they could come up with $500 for a bail bond deposit are now free to go.

When prosecutors, like this one, say bail reform “puts victims and their families at risk,” the ONLY effect of this law is how much it costs for the suspect to get out. These are cases where prosecutors were already “jeopardizing” public safety for a few hundred bucks, a true sign of how deeply they care about that.

What they actually want is money hanging around in public coffers earning interest. What they actually want are their campaign contributors in the bail bond industry charging fees. And what they don’t want is the county lockup reserved solely for serious crimes.

Which is a shame, because not only do the stats show that bail reform isn’t endangering the public, it’s affirmatively reducing crime. There are a lot of reasons for this, but keeping low-level people away from hardcore criminal suspects running a crime school on the county’s dime is a decent one.

The prosecutor in this case claims, hypothetically only, that in the instance of a violent misdemeanor — as forcible felonies are excluded — the government may be unable to make a case to the judge that the person should still be detained unless it convinces the victim to testify. Except, before this reform, prosecutors would have had to make that exact same case to hold someone without bail. The only complaint here is that they were comfortable letting out middle class people charged with misdemeanor battery, but not poor people in the same boat.

So when these folks say, they “fear the victim would be harmed again if the suspect is released,” take it with the grain of salt that they don’t care a lick if the suspect can scrape together enough for a deposit.

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Lacy also mentioned it can be even more difficult for State Attorneys to request a suspect to get jail time in cases like second degree murder because the victim would be dead.

Great point! Probably why second degree murder isn’t covered by this law.

Seriously, citizens of Vermillion County, this woman is either an inveterate liar or too terminally stupid to read the legislation. Neither is a great quality in an elected official. You might want to start considering replacements for the next election.

State’s attorney says bail removal law doesn’t protect public [News 20]

Earlier: Don’t Trust The ‘Purge Law’ Hype: Getting Rid Of Cash Bond Is Not The End Of The World
Bail Reform Opponent Proves Lawyers Are Terrible At Math

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HeadshotJoe Patrice is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news. Joe also serves as a Managing Director at RPN Executive Search.

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