Winnebago County state’s attorney says he won’t drop SAFE-T Act lawsuit

By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
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ROCKFORD — Winnebago County State’s Attorney J. Hanley said Monday he will not drop his lawsuit designed to halt the implementation of the SAFE-T Act, which ends cash bail in Illinois.

Hanley said the amendments lawmakers made to the act in the November veto session addressed some of the issues that he raised, but he still considers it unconstitutional.

“The amended law is an improvement – but its passage and its language still offend our Constitution,” he said Monday in a news release. “As such, Winnebago County will remain in the lawsuit. This is consistent with the oath I took to defend the Illinois Constitution.”

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Hanley released the statement as faith leaders and other community organizations with the Illinois Network for Pretrial Justice from Sangamon, Winnebago and Will counties on Monday pushed for their respective state’s attorneys to drop their lawsuits.

Hanley is among dozens of top prosecutors, both Democrats and Republicans, from around the state who filed lawsuits aimed at halting the SAFE-T Act.

“It’s time to stop making excuses and get on board with the courts, legislators, community members, advocates and religious communities who support ending money bond in Illinois,” Pastor Violet Johnicker, associate director of Rockford Urban Ministries, said in a news release. “As a faith leader, I have supported this legislation from the beginning because I know it is a step towards righting the wrongs of the current pretrial system that has disrupted the lives of people in our communities by splitting up families, forcing people to lose their jobs and housing, and unjustly punishing those who are just trying to make ends meet.” 

Hanley had initially raised objection to standards for detention, which he said were too restrictive because the law had several categories of crime not subject to detention under dangerousness standard. Those could only be argued for bond to be revoked under the willful flight standard. Also, the previous version of the law did not allow judges to issue bench warrants when defendants failed to appear.

Those portions of the law have since been changed. Lawmakers also answered a key question about how it takes effect. The law is applied prospectively, meaning that those arrested after Jan. 1 can’t be held on cash bail. Those arrested before that can petition the court for a hearing that could lead to their pretrial release or being held without bond.

Hanley and Sheriff Gary Caruana filed the lawsuit in October, and the case has been consolidated in Kankakee County. A decision is expected before the end of the year, Hanley said.

The lawsuit challenged the constitutionality on six legal bases, which Hanley previously summarized this way:

• The law violates the single subject rule, which says a piece of legislation should deal with one subject.
• It violates the Illinois Constitution in that it deprives defendants of their right to be “bailable by sufficient sureties.”
• It violates the rights of victims guaranteed by the Illinois Constitution.
• It improperly interferes with the court’s supervisory and administrative responsibilities.
• The passage of the law violated the three readings clause of the Illinois Constitution.
• The law is unconstitutionally vague.

This article is by Kevin Haas. Email him at khaas@rockrivercurrent.com or follow him on Twitter at @KevinMHaas or Instagram @thekevinhaas.