Protesters at St. Clair County jail call for end of cash bonds, pretrial incarceration
Organizers with the United Congregations of the Metro East (UCM) and EXPO Illinois were at the St. Clair County Jail on Saturday afternoon calling for an end to cash bail and pretrial incarcerations.
A crowd of protesters held signs and spoke in front of the jail demanding the release of pretrial detainees who have not committed violent offenses. The protest also was in support of the Pretrial Fairness Act, legislation sponsored by Illinois 13th District State Senator Robert Peters that calls for reform to the current court system.
The event’s organizer, UCM Pretrial Justice Community Organizer Rodney Brown, said cash bail and pretrial incarcerations can completely uproot individual’s lives, no matter how severe the crime, and that more often than not, individuals who are Black receive higher bonds.
“A lot of time when people are going into jails pretrial they’re getting high bonds that exceed their annual salaries,” Brown said.
Brown said those high bonds lead to other “devastating” effects for individuals who can’t afford bail. He said a good example of that is when someone goes to jail and misses several days of work due to not being able to afford their release. That can lead to a loss of income and more, he said.
“If you’re in jail for 24 hours and it’s a no call no show you’re getting fired from your job,” he said. “You’re losing your housing, access to food and a lot of times the custody of your children.”
On top of that, Brown added, offenders aren’t always guaranteed a trial date and, for people from East St. Louis and other areas of St. Clair County, that can lead to spending months and sometimes years in jail awaiting trial.
Brown said the Pretrial Fairness Act is an opportunity for Illinois to make several steps in the right direction when it comes to its court system. He said in Cook County, where similar reforms were put into place, a large decrease in crime took place. According to a report from the state, Cook County saw a 40% decline in pretrial detainees that “coincided with a drop in crime.”
Out of 42,361 people who were released pretrial between Oct. 2017 and Dec. 2018, 257 individuals were arrested and accused of committing a new violent offense.
Cash bonds disproportionately affect poor, Black people
Rikkathon, a member of EXPO Illinois, added that the current laws and court system punish people for being poor or Black. He said it is a problem not only in St. Clair County and Illinois but across the country.
“We want to end the punishment of poor people,” he said. “We feel that these practices only focus on people who can’t pay and sadly to say most of the poor people are people of color. We feel these discriminatory practices — all over the country, not just St. Clair — need to stop.”
According to its website, EXPO is an organization working to end mass incarceration, eliminate all forms of structural discrimination against formerly incarcerated people and restore formerly incarcerated people to full participation in communities.
Rikkathon added that with the current COVID-19 pandemic, for some, a traffic stop could turn into a death sentence due to the spread of the virus in some jails.
Ernest Rice-Bey, another organizer with EXPO Illinois, who is an ex-convict, said the current system is unfair to non-violent offenders. He said his organization is hoping that individuals in power will take note of the Pretrial Fairness Act and “balance” the court system he says is currently unfair for people of color and poor individuals.
“We’ve come together to advocate balancing the scales of justice,” he said. “We’re not advocating the release of violent offenders, but we’re advocating that those offenders who are not violent, who can’t afford to make bond, be placed in county jails or prisons for extended amounts of time where they lose their jobs or can’t feed their families.”
What the Pretrial Fairness Act does
The Pretrial Fairness Act aims to change seven “elements” of the current court system in Illinois. According to UCM, the act would end the use of money bonds, create a clear process for bonds hearings, simplify factors for determining release and detention decisions, give law enforcement release authority, create options for warrant alternatives, reform sentences for pretrial release violations and plan for state data collection.
Specifically, the legislation would:
- Prohibit courts from requiring the payment of money in exchange for release from jail for those who are accused and not convicted
- Establish a process where judges make a “clear decision” at an initial bond hearing and either detain or release an accused person pending trial
- Establish six factors for determining conditions of release
- Give police authority to release a recently arrested person without requiring an appearance before a judge in all cases except first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder and a violent sexual offense
- Create alternatives for warrants
- Reduce the penalty for violation of a condition of pretrial release or electronic monitoring
- Require state leaders to develop a plan for the statewide collection and publication of data on outcomes at bond hearings and the bond status of people in jail
This story was originally published September 26, 2020 at 7:40 PM.