But Illinois is about to overhaul the system that upended Ross’ life. Illinois’ Pretrial Fairness Act, which abolishes cash bail as a condition of pretrial release, will take effect Sept. 18, making Illinois the first state to end cash bail and a testing ground for whether — and how — it works on a large scale.

Judges can still keep people accused of serious crimes behind bars pretrial, but first would have to go through a more rigorous review of each case.

Critics say cash bail policies are especially unfair to Black people and other people of color. A 2022 federal civil rights report on cash bail systems found that courts tend to impose higher pretrial detention penalties on Black and Latino people, citing a study that showed Black men received bail amounts 35% higher than white men, and Latino men received bail amounts 19% higher than white men.

  • AmberPrince@kbin.social
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    17
    ·
    1 year ago

    When Pritzker first got elected I was incredibly dubious. After all, we already had Trump as President and here is Pritzker, another hotel magnate, claiming he could do great things for Illinois. I have since been pretty impressed with everything he has done.

    • twice_twotimes@sh.itjust.works
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      14
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      1 year ago

      He’s kinda been crushing it. Definitely a pleasant surprise. I think putting 50 million of his own dollars towards campaigning for a tax system that would dramatically raise his own taxes was a pretty impressive demonstration that his approach is a bit different from Trump’s.

      Also women’s healthcare, refugee support structures, LGBT inclusivity, legal recreational weed, union support, Election Day as a state holiday…the dude doesn’t suck.

      • bobman@unilem.org
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        5
        arrow-down
        5
        ·
        1 year ago

        If only he could allow Illinois citizens to grow their own weed.

        Nah. Still gotta look out for his buddies, lol.

        • Curiousfur@yiffit.net
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          11
          ·
          1 year ago

          Makes it easier for the next governor to do, so don’t let perfect be the enemy of good. I live in a state where I can take a huge amount of these things for granted, but as a result I feel like there’s less of a push to change things that are still a problem, so I’m always happy to see Midwestern states making progress because it motivates people in other states to make change too.

          • HubertManne@kbin.social
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            2
            ·
            1 year ago

            I agree. Im disapointed in the lack of grow but we are in an oasis for our neighbors. Honestly might as well suck up the tax revenue until the holdout states invariably cave.

        • DrPop@lemmy.one
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          1 year ago

          You just need a medical marijuana card, but finding a doctor who will issue one is a different story.