Opinion | One Year of Illinois Pretrial Fairness Act Provides National Model for Reform

One year ago, the Illinois Pretrial Fairness Act went into effect. By ending the use of bail in courts across the state, it reduced the number of people in jail while awaiting trial and made the justice system fairer and more just, without sacrificing our safety. After 12 months, the impressive results are in, and policymakers across the country should take note.

Recent data released by Loyola University’s Center for Criminal Justice indicates that the Pretrial Fairness Act has not only reduced incarceration rates, but also maintained public safety. Jail populations fell by 14 percent in Cook County and other urban jurisdictions and by 25 percent in certain rural counties. As these incarceration rates fell, crime rates across Illinois also fell. For example, violent and property crime rates across the state fell by 12 percent. As a case study in the practicality and necessity of bail reform, the Pretrial Fairness Act has proven its impact.

In passing the law, Illinois leaders followed a robust body of evidence showing that wealth-based incarceration undermines both safety and justice. A two-tiered justice system in which someone who is wealthy can afford to post bail and return home to await trial while someone who cannot afford their freedom languishes in jail — for weeks, months, or even years — is unjust. Moreover, years of research show that pretrial detention is counterproductive to public safety, because even a few hours in jail is so destabilizing that it increases the likelihood of a person being rearrested in the future.

Illinois’ success shows that there is no false choice between safety and a fairer justice system.

Vocal opponents of Illinois’s bail reform claimed that the law would empty prisons and endanger public safety. They spent $40 million on a high-profile campaign to undermine the Pretrial Fairness Act before it went into effect, calling it “the Purge” and using racist dog whistles to spread sensational and false stories about crime. But the evidence speaks for itself, and Illinois’ success is no exception. Data from New Jersey, which adopted bail reform more than seven years ago, shows that its prison population has declined and the number of people awaiting trial in jail has dropped by 40 percent, while crime rates have fallen. Even in New York, where bail reform has been widely criticized, a recent study found that the reform has not contributed to an increase in crime.

A broad spectrum of Illinois stakeholders came together in support of the Pretrial Fairness Act: Governor JB Pritzker and Attorney General Kwame Raoul, the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus, law enforcement leaders from across the state, and advocacy groups such as the Coalition to End Money Bond, the Illinois Network for Pretrial Justice, The Network: Advocating Against Domestic Violence, and the Chicago Alliance Against Sexual Exploitation, to name a few.

Importantly, victims and survivors of violence were a major part of the movement to end cash bail in Illinois. What motivated this diverse group of advocates for reform? First, the shocking racial disparities that result from a cash bail system that disproportionately places the burden of making an impossible choice between paying for their loved one’s freedom versus paying rent, putting food on the table, and affording other basic necessities.

A bail system also forces people to make the impossible choice of staying in jail to get their day in court or pleading guilty and going home. Ending the bail system in Illinois was also a gender justice issue. Mothers, sisters, daughters, aunts, and other women are the ones most likely to pay bail when their loved ones are incarcerated. And of the women who are incarcerated, 70-80% have experienced intimate partner violence. By removing bail from the equation and having fewer people, including women, behind bars, we begin to right some of those wrongs.

There are many other important statistics that underscore the need to abolish bail not just in Illinois, but across the United States. Black people represent 13.6% of the U.S. population, but account for 53% of acquittals. People who spend just 72 hours incarcerated are 2.5 times more likely to be unemployed a year later. Illinois’ success shows that there is no false choice between safety and a fairer justice system. As we celebrate one year of the Illinois Pretrial Fairness Act, people across the country should take note. Asset-based incarceration has always been a barrier to a safer future, but we have real solutions that provide both safety and fairness.