The Illinois Supreme Court upheld the state's law eliminating cash bail on Tuesday, ending a monthslong debate about whether or not the reform was constitutional.
The state's high court ruled 5-2 that the Illinois Constitution does not require cash bail in criminal trials, reversing the decision of a Kankakee County judge.
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The constitution "does not mandate that monetary bail is the only means to ensure criminal defendants appear for trials or the only means to protect the public," the ruling stated. "Our constitution creates a balance between the individual rights of defendants and the individual rights of crime victims."
The cash bail provision, a provision of the SAFE-T Act that Gov. JB Pritzker (D-IL) signed into law last year, was set to go into effect on Jan. 1 but was delayed due to legal challenges.
In a statement following the Supreme Court decision, Pritzker said he was "pleased" the court upheld the state's decision to eliminate cash bail.
"We can now move forward with historic reform to ensure pretrial detainment is determined by the danger an individual poses to the community instead of by their ability to pay their way out of jail," Pritzker said on Tuesday.
Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx, who is not seeking another term, was a vocal supporter of eliminating cash bail. She said in a statement on Tuesday that keeping the law in place will allow the state to replace cash bail with a "detention process based on community safety and not on the financial fitness of defendants."
Kankakee County State's Attorney Jim Rowe was one of those who sued to overturn the law. In a statement on Tuesday, Rowe said the decision was "disappointing" and that the law is "terribly detrimental to public safety."
"The people of Illinois deserve better than bail reform that is passed under cover of darkness at 4 a.m. when all the state was sleeping; they deserve to have a voice in any constitutional amendments through the power of their vote; and they deserve to be governed by a government of, for and by the people — not by legislative or gubernatorial fiat. That was the essence of our lawsuit and we stand for those principles still today," Rowe said.
Ray Estrada, a Republican candidate for Illinois's 17th District, called Tuesday's ruling a "radical policy" that does "nothing to curb violence and legitimizes rogue prosecutors who put so-called 'social justice' before the safety of victims."
"There is nothing 'progressive' about allowing our communities to become bastions of crime that leave families and small businesses fearful," Estrada said in a release.
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Justice David K. Overstreet dissented, with Justice Lisa Holder White joining his opinion. Overstreet argued that eliminating cash bail violates the rights of crime victims.
Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul had filed an appeal to the Illinois Supreme Court after the Kankakee County judge ruled in favor of Rowe and other challengers. The high court heard arguments in the case last March.