Bail Reform for Chicago Hurts Pretrial Detainees

Bail reform for Chicago means soon there will be no cash bail for pretrial detainees. The End Money Bond Act will stop letting people bond out of jail by not allowing the courts to require payment to be released from jail. This ruling affects people who are charged but not convicted of any crimes.

The bail reform is wrong because police officers are not using proper procedures when making arrests — carrying out illegal searches — and purposely do not use body cameras during initial approaches and pursuits.

Government officials intend not to have people detained before trial because not being able to afford to get out is unfair and a form of discrimination. Usually, after individuals pay their fees, they are put on unjust probation, which causes them to potentially lose the money spent on a given human right.

There is no bail reform for Chicago when presumptions of the innocent go disregarded. People need to be with family. Instead, innocent fathers, brothers, and sons are robbed of their time by a system designed to incarcerate them.

Valuable time is being taken from protective figures for their families. While locked up, some later find out that a loved one has been injured or even lost their lives.

Some people have been wrongfully detained that need to be active in the community. These community members who are arrested are positive role models to their respective neighborhoods. They actively influence the young and old minds in a nonviolent, all-inclusive manner. Another bail reform for Chicago is the unjust arrest of honest working individuals. They are the ones who keep up with household bills and, unfortunately, are detained for long periods of time.

Honest men and women are detained and lose housing because they can not work from jail to pay rent. Dependants are forced to relocate around Chicago in hopes of finding trustworthy housing. Cars are being impounded because of forceful neglect.

Those who rely on their business to support their families and lifestyles cannot run the business from a cell. Additionally, individuals have difficulty running their businesses with limited phone time. These factors cause a loss of clientele, loss of stock/products; they can not afford to reboot and take an overall hit because of the unlawful detention of non sentenced citizens.

On the other side of bail reform, Chicago suspects are allowed free roam after a crime has been committed. Unfortunately, this leaves room for someone who very well may have committed a crime to commit more before they are proven guilty.

If a suspect is set free, there is a potential for them to clash with any of their victims can arise. Police who unfairly profile a person can unintentionally put the wrong type of attention on that individual. Even though the person is not proven guilty, those who believe they are could cause problems or harm the suspect.

On the other hand, someone fighting a serious case has a chance to catch up to witnesses for intimidation/extortion purposes.

Then there are the people who do not show up to court appearances. Instead, they are entirely okay with going on the run and potentially not having to be sentenced.

Written By Darryl Robinson
Edited by Sheena Robertson

Sources:

Chicago Council: “Bail Reform” Worked in Cook County
Illinois General Assembly: 101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2019 and 2020 SB4025; by Sen. Robert Peters

Featured and Top Image Courtesy of Yumi Kimura’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
Inset Image Courtesy of Adam Johnson’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License