A leading Democratic prosecutor in Chicago with four decades of experience is aghast at a new ‘criminal reform’ law passed by the Democratic legislature and signed by Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker.
Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow said that the misnamed “Safe-T Act” will “tie the hands” of prosecutors and “destroy the criminal justice system in Illinois.”
“I never, in my 40 years in this profession, ever thought I’d ever see anything close to this.The intent of this law is to destroy the criminal justice system in Illinois, and I’m not going to let that happen,” he told Fox News Digital.
“Have you ever heard of any government passing a law to release everyone in their jails? No one has ever done that before, and no one would ever think to do that. That would be suicide,” he continued.
“The bottom line is there has to be a balance. And when someone crosses a line, with regards to violent crime, that has to be addressed aggressively in order to prevent that person from harming other people,” he added.
Glasgow’s office has filed a lawsuit against the state of Illinois, alleging that the new law violates several state statutes. What’s more, he’s far from the only state prosecutor — Democrat and Republican — who is opposed to it
Per Fox News:
Glasgow, one of the most high-profile state prosecutors to come out against the SAFE-T Act, is joined by 100 of 102 Democratic and Republican state’s attorneys in Illinois who oppose the law.
Under the SAFE-T Act, second-degree murder, aggravated assault, drug offenses, intimidation, carjacking, and arson will not be detainable offenses unless the suspect is proven to be a flight risk or risk to public safety.
The standards to prove “willful flight” in these instances have also been raised to unrealistic standards, according to Glasgow, further reducing the chance of detaining individuals on these charges.
There are over 600 inmates in the Will County jail, however under Pritzker’s recent law, about half of these inmates will be released on day one of it going into effect, according to Glasgow, with the remaining half released 90-days later.
“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,” Fox News added.
Disclaimer: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author’s opinion.