Facts, not finances, are deciding detentions

Many news stories would have had you believing that Illinois was bound to become a lawless badland when the Pretrial Fairness Act took effect. Our state ended money bond last month, but the jail doors didn't swing open. Judges began spending more time evaluating each case and making release decisions based on safety, not the size of a person's bank account.

On the first day of implementation here in DuPage County, 22 people were brought before a judge for pretrial hearings. Under the old system, those people would have had mere minutes in front of a judge, a bond may have been set and if the accused couldn't afford it, they would've languished in jail until they could come up with the money or they went to trial. Instead, the proceedings took most of the day and some people were able to return to their families without having to pay bail. The judge also held people they believed to be a flight risk or danger to the community. Under the old system, if those persons had the funds, they would've been able to bond out.

Thanks to the new system, a judge was able to carefully consider all of the factors in these cases and was able to make an informed determination. Now facts, not finances, are determining who is jailed and who is released while awaiting trial.

Mary Lhotak

Hanover Park