Gianno Caldwell warns against Illinois SAFE-T Act: 'People can see the dangers'
Fox News' Gianno Caldwell talks to Republican leader, former prosecutor about Illinois choosing to end cash bail in 2023
Chicago-area criminal justice professionals are raising red flags over the Illinois Safety, Accountability, Fairness and Equity-Today (SAFE-T) Act, which passed through the entire Illinois legislature between 4 a.m. and 11 a.m. CT Jan. 13, 2021, and is set to take effect on Jan. 1, 2023.
The 764-page SAFE-T Act, simply put, is an overhaul of the Illinois criminal justice system.
"I could speak for police chiefs throughout the state. We reached out and tried to get our opinions across to our local legislators and then ask them to bring that to Springfield and sit down and have some negotiations with the bill's sponsors," former Riverside Police Chief Tom Weitzel told Fox News Digital. "And there was a little bit of back and forth … but, to me, it was just to … check a box and say, okay, you know what? We did talk to the Illinois Chiefs of Police Legislative Committee."
Concerns about the SAFE-T Act
The law, which Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed last year, includes numerous provisions that proponents say will improve public safety in the state and make that criminal justice system more equitable.
The law, which Gov. Jay Pritzker signed last year, includes numerous provisions that proponents say will improve public safety in the state and make that criminal justice system more equitable. (Scott Olson)
"This police reform and accountability and criminal justice legislation is a substantial step toward dismantling systemic racism by bringing us closer to true safety, true fairness and true justice," Pritzker said in February 2021 after signing the law.
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Critics of the law take issue with some of those provisions, including ending cash bail; prohibiting judges from considering a defendant's previous behavior when determining whether he or she is a flight risk; allowing a 48-hour period between the time a defendant on electronic monitoring leaves home without permission and the time authorities can charge that person with escape; and new police training policies without additional funding for departments.
State representatives "used to respect and take professional opinions" from "police leaders throughout the state" on legislative issues, Weitzel said. These days, the former police chief believes public safety discussions among legislators is purely political.
"That has diminished. [Legislators], in my opinion, treat the police chiefs and police executives like crap. They don't listen to us," he said. "They don't seek our professional opinion any more on bills and other important items. It's a very personal issue. It's very Republican-Democrat. And when I was chief, it was just public safety. … I just did what was right for the residents of Riverside."
The retired police chief also does not believe the law will increase public safety, as SAFE-T Act proponents have argued. If the law's supporters argued that it would make the criminal justice system more fair for "the disproportionate amount of minorities being held in custody or people that don't have the financial means to post 100% bail," that would be one thing, Weitzel said. However, the law "doesn't increase publicly, no question," he continued.
Critics of the SAFE-T Act take issue with some of those provisions, including ending cash bail (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service)
The majority of Illinois' 102 states attorneys are against the law as it stands; more than half of those prosecutors have filed lawsuits against the law since the governor signed it into effect last year, according to WQAD8.
Constitutionality of the SAFE-T Act
Opponents also argue that the law is unconstitutional.
"Bail is a word that's used in the Illinois Constitution as something that is guaranteed to criminal defendants," former Cook County Assistant States Attorney Dan Kirk said. While constitutions can be amended, Illinois requires a "very specific process" to make changes to its state constitution. In other words, the legislature can not "amend a constitution just by passing a statute."
"It appears to me and to other people who are familiar with constitutional law, that the Safety Act seeks to, in effect, amend the Illinois Constitution without following the proper methodology of how the constitution is amended," Kirk continued.
Additionally, any Illinois bill "has to be on single subject" to prevent legislation containing multiple purposes from being shot down in one fell swoop, retired Cook County Judge Daniel Locallo, who recently co-authored an op-ed on the law with Kirk and former Cook County Chief of Appeals Alan Spellberg, previously told Fox News Digital.
The majority of Illinois' 102 states attorneys are against the law as it stands; more than half of those prosecutors have filed lawsuits against the law since the governor signed it into effect last year, according to WQAD8. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service)
Kirk similarly said the SAFE-T Act "touches upon a myriad of issues, from the elimination of bail to body cameras worn by police officers to potential fines that could be levied against police officers for noncompliance with certain aspects of the law to police training … and so insofar as it violates the single subject rule, any constitutional expert would reasonably anticipate that it would be found unconstitutional for violation of single subject form."
Possibility of a repeal
While Kirk and Weitzel do not disagree with the entire law, they believe the current version of the SAFE-T Act needs to be either repealed or revisited as a "trailer bill."
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If legislators do not repeal the SAFE-T as it stands despite the numerous lawsuits filed by Illinois ASAs, Weitzel said he would not be surprised if lawmakers create "a trailer bill where they clean up language, they extend deadlines for mandated requirements, and they get rid of and retool some of the issues" — the main issue being the elimination of cash bail, Weitzel said.
"This absolutely needs to be modified before the end of the year. I'm not in the camp that the whole bill needs to be eliminated," the former police chief explained. "But there is definitely room for retooling and modification under what I would consider a trailer bill. No question. If it stays as is, it will not advance public safety."
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