Democrats don’t want serious debate before the November election about eliminating cash bail under the Pretrial Fairness Act, which goes into effect Jan. 1, 2023. Gov. JB Pritzker hasn’t been helpful by just talking about making sure wealthy criminals can’t buy their way out of jail, and his opponent, Darren Bailey, worries only that local governments won’t have enough money to operate without bail money. These are minor points about serious matters. As you’ll read in the Capitol News Illinois in-depth report (p. 4), those who have looked closely at the new law, both supporters and opponents, say it still has lots of flaws and gray areas that need to be resolved before it goes into effect. If “Get Out of Jail Free” starts releasing people who commit crimes when they should have been detained, all the good intentions behind this effort will be lost. This is Illinois’ best chance at major reform of pretrial procedures. Don’t blow it. – Fletcher Farrar, editor
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