Illinois Supreme Court upholds law eliminating cash bail

By Andy Rose and Chris Boyette, CNN

(CNN) — The Illinois Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that the state’s historic move to ban cash bail is constitutional, overturning a lower court decision.

In a 5-2 decision, the state’s highest court ruled that the measure, which eliminates the requirement that individuals post bail in order to be released before trial, can go into effect on September 18. Under the law, a person can still be detained if they pose a “specific, real and present threat to a person” or if there is a “high likelihood” that they will flee.

Chief Justice Mary Jane Theis wrote in the opinion, “Our constitution creates a balance between the individual rights of defendants and the individual rights of crime victims. The Act’s pretrial release provisions set forth procedures commensurate with that balance.”

The cash bail ban, part of a law passed in 2021 called the SAFE-T Act, had been overturned by a Kankakee County judge, who ruled that the bail provision could only be enacted with an amendment to the state’s constitution, not a new law.

“In eliminating monetary bail, the discretion constitutionally vested to the courts to protect victims and their families by this method is gone,” Judge Thomas Cunningham wrote late last year.

In a dissent Tuesday, Justice David Overstreet echoed this argument. “The legislature has not done so, but this is constitutionally required no matter how desirable it may be to abolish monetary bail,” he wrote.

However, Theis said Cunningham “incorrectly assumed that abolishing monetary bail undermines the State’s interests,” adding that stating that monetary bail is required “ignored the plain language of the constitution.”

Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker, who signed the SAFE-T Act into law, celebrated the decision: “I look forward to continuing to work with the General Assembly and our many other partners as we transition to a more equitable and just Illinois.”

The Supreme Court ruling was also applauded by Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx.

“Today’s ruling ends the cash bail system, replacing that system with a detention process based on community safety and not on the financial fitness of defendants. Congratulations to every stakeholder who helped make this happen,” Foxx said in a written statement.

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CNN’s Piper Hudspeth Blackburn contributed to this report.