Thanks to the SAFE-T Act 5,000 Illinois prisoners will receive a “Get Out of Jail FREE” card for New Year’s Day.
Cities 92.9 asked Attorney General candidate, Republican Thomas DeVore what in the SAFE-T Act required this?
DeVore replied, “There is no specific provision in the SAFE-T Act that says those being in jail must be released. It doesn’t say that expressly. But many of the state’s attorneys across our state have interpreted it to mean that since it eliminates cash bail as of January 1st, that those being detained in jail right now, should they be being held right now on an offence that’s not listed in the categories of detention, that they must be released from jail and given their bail back.
DeVore continued, “That’s an interpretation of those State’s Attorneys and for those that are being detained on what is a detainable offence let’s call it. They have to have that hearing. That is the interpretation of many state’s Attorneys based upon the language in the bill.”
DeVore spoke at a SAFE-T Act forum held on Thursday evening at Freedom Baptist Church in Bloomington. 100 of 102 State’s Attorneys have sued Governor JB Pritzker over the act.
While the law eliminates cash bail it’s not the bail issue in itself that is leading to the prisoner release. It’s the determination that there will be only seven classified offenses that a person will be able to be detained on that has led to the determination that there will have to be a prisoner release.
DeVore clarified the matter saying, “Anybody that is being held in jail right now that’s being held for their inability to post their cash bond, the offenses that they are being held for either fall within the categories of detention or they fall outside of them.”
And the States Attorney’s, many of them have concluded or interpreted that as of January 1st they have to consider the new law as for each of those persons being detained and decide whether to release them and give their bond back or whether to have the hearing and determine whether or not the court should detain them under the new standards within the SAFE-T Act,” DeVore said.
We asked DeVore what he would say to those that might say this talk of releasing prisoners on January 1st is only politics and that this interpretation sounded like something designed for an election.
DeVore said, “If it’s designed for an election that interpretation has been done by many Democrats as well as Republicans. So if it is political it’s bi-partisan politics which is not very common.”
