A landmark criminal justice reform that eliminates cash bail in Illinois is constitutional, the state’s Supreme Court ruled Tuesday, paving the way for the change to take effect Sept. 18. 

The 5-2 decision – handed down on partisan lines – means individuals will only be incarcerated while awaiting trial under specific circumstances. 

Judges can still order someone to be detained as they await trial, but the new system will be based on an offender’s level of risk to the community or likelihood of fleeing prosecution rather than their ability to afford bail. 

The list of offenses for which a judge can revoke pretrial release became a point of controversy in the two years following the law’s 2021 passage until it was amended in late 2022. 

Ultimately, lawmakers settled on a system that aims to divert lower-level nonviolent offenders from pretrial incarceration while giving judges greater authority to detain individuals they deem dangerous or a flight risk.

The law was scheduled to take effect on Jan. 1 of this year, but on Dec. 31 the justices issued an order postponing its implementation until they had time to rule on the case. 

The Tuesday ruling means the elimination of  cash bail will be instituted statewide in 60 days, beginning Sept. 18.

Monroe County Sheriff Neal Rohlfing called the ruling “absolutely ridiculous,” saying the elimination of cash bail “won’t make communities safer.”

Rohlfing suggested there may be a “negative impact” if more criminals may come to the area from Missouri knowing they will be released under the new system. 

He also said the party-line court ruling was “unfortunate,” adding “elections have consequences.”

“I’m disappointed (the court) doesn’t want to hold people accountable,” Rohlfing concluded.  

Rep. David Friess (R-Red Bud) issued a statement shortly after the decision was announced.

“The citizens of Illinois deserve to live, work, and raise their families in their communities without fear for their safety,” the statement read. “Our state will be the first to enact a no cash bail system, and at a time when our crime rates are also at the top of the nation. This decision is extremely disappointing, and a loss for public safety in Illinois.”

State Sen. Terri Bryant (R-Murphysboro) expressed a similar sentiment. 

“Throughout the past few years, we have seen Democratic lawmakers prioritize the needs and wants of criminals within our judicial system over those of their victims and those seeking to protect them,” Bryant said in a press release. “Today’s ruling upholds that twisted and abhorrent mindset. The people of our state will be less safe once this act takes full effect all across Illinois this September. And the further erosion of public safety that will undoubtedly follow will be all thanks to the majority party and this ruling.” 

Prior to the law becoming effective Jan. 1, a group of state’s attorneys and sheriffs challenged the law’s constitutionality based on the fact that the Illinois Constitution directly references “bail” in two sections, including one that states, “all persons” accused of crimes “shall be bailable by sufficient sureties.”

The judge’s majority opinion Tuesday stated, “The Illinois Constitution of 1970 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. 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 high court’s two Republican justices dissented. Justice David Overstreet, of the 5th District in Southern Illinois, wrote in his dissent that he believed the General Assembly’s elimination of cash bail was “in direct violation” of the constitution’s bill of rights and another section of the document pertaining to crime victims’ rights.

“This court has an absolute obligation to declare the pretrial release provisions of the act to be invalid and unenforceable no matter how beneficial the abolishment of monetary bail may be,” Overstreet wrote, joined by Justice Lisa Holder White. 

(Some information for this article was obtained through Capitol News Illinois)