Illinois’ reckless and cashless bail law puts criminals before victims

thanks for the to rule By the Illinois Supreme Court, Illinois is set to become the first state in the country to eliminate cash bail entirely. Many call her new law “the most dangerous in America,” as state police officers fear, with good reason, that it will become a new law. Crime increased dramatically.

Some argue that cash bail unnecessarily puts people behind bars while they await trial. But the evidence is clear that eliminating cash bail harms more people than it helps.

Take, for example, how New York City recently eliminated cash bail in a more limited way. After carrying out bail repair more than 72 percent Those caught with a violent felony were re-arrested — 10 percentage point increase in returns to offense.

The New York Times reported that among the robbery crimes in that city, 327 people were arrested en masse and rearrested over the course of a year. 6000 times in 2022, which accounted for nearly a third of all shoplifting crimes in the city. These kinds of bail “fixes” are also what led to this Organized robbery teams Its members dare when they know that arresting them will result in nothing more than a slap on the wrist. These crews steal thousands of dollars’ worth of merchandise and then sell their stolen merchandise via online marketplaces.

In Yolo County, California, the district attorney found that of the 595 people released under no-bail policies in 2022, 420 people were re-arrested. In other words, more than 70% of those who benefited from no cash bail used their newfound freedom to commit more crimes.

By eliminating cash bail entirely, cities risk releasing potentially dangerous individuals back into the community without any financial incentive to stand trial.

This same policy is now set to go into effect in the state that includes a city known as The murder capital of America – Chicago. The lack of self-awareness would be laughable if it weren’t so important.

Zero bail policies lead to more violent crime that harms victims directly while also increasing property crime, which harms average Americans through higher prices. This, in turn, exacerbates the effects of inflation, which is already there Hurting countless families. They have provided one example after another of how crime causes poverty.

Rising crime has a disproportionately harmful effect on minority communities and neighborhoods. studies They show that high crime rates disproportionately harm young people of color. Thus, adopting the state of Illinois for a zero cash bail would be particularly difficult for the minority population that makes up 40 percent of the state’s population. This is ironic for a policy that was developed and supposed to be adopted in the name of “equality” and anti-racism.

The idea that a person is “innocent until proven guilty” is an important tenet of American criminal law. It protects ordinary citizens from an overzealous government that likes to throw people in jail at random in the name of crime and safety.

It would be foolish to ignore the rights of the accused. But as with everything, there is a balance to be struck. The rights of the accused are as important as the rights of their victims, and they must always be balanced. Zero bail tilts the scales dramatically in favor of criminals while leaving innocent people, especially minority populations, worse off.

Gabriel Nadales is the USA National Manager.