Beginning September 18, 2023, the Pretrial Fairness Act fundamentally altered pretrial practices in Illinois. What can we say about the workings and effects of the new law at the one-year point?
Bail
- How has the Pretrial Fairness Act affected day-to-day practice in Illinois courtrooms?
- A little over a month after the Illinois Pretrial Fairness Act went into effect, we summarize some preliminary observations on the rollout of the new law.
- Professors Don Stemen and David Olson of Loyola University Chicago CCJ examine whether crime has increased in places that have implemented bail reforms since 2017.
- We explore how important monetary bail is as a source of restitution for victims of crime and whether the elimination of monetary bail will have the unintended consequence of reducing compensation for victims.
- Practitioner interviews suggest that bail is imposed for a broader range of purposes than is usually articulated, at least in public. Our analyses of available data show that bail’s practical results are different from those that are widely assumed. And our conversations with defendants—people who know the pretrial system from inside—have surfaced beliefs and perceptions about bail that are both disturbing and important.
- Some Insights from Illinois Practitioner Interviews
- Most people pass through jails, being held for relatively short periods before bonding out—and that includes people charged with the kinds of serious offenses that are designated “detainable” under the PFA.
- Under the current cash bail system, most people - even people charged with serious crimes - do not await trial in jail.
- This tool presents data comparing existing Cook bond decisions with the new PFA detainable groups.
- Examining the number and percent of individuals receiving individual-recognizance bonds (I-Bonds), cash or deposit bonds (C/D-Bonds), and No Bail for offenses that will be detainable or non-detainable under the PFA.
- A detailed analyses of 1,836 new cases that went through bond court in Lake County, Illinois, from March 1 to December 31, 2021.
- Observations in Cook, Lake, Winnebago, and McLean Counties
- Bond Decisions in Cook County
- This report by researchers at the Center for Criminal Justice Research, Policy, and Practice at Loyola University Chicago analyzes the impact of bond reform in Cook County on felony bond court decisions, pretrial release, and crime.