Last week, homes across Illinois were delivered a fake newspaper published by right-wing radio personality Dan Proft. The racially-charged mailer was riddled with misinformation about the Pretrial Fairness Act, an element of the SAFE-T Act that will end money bond in Illinois in 2023. Variations of the deceptive mailer were targeted to local communities under titles such as the “Chicago City Wire” and “DuPage Policy Journal.” 

Instead of engaging in a serious debate about pretrial policy, Dan Proft has chosen to blow his racist dog whistle while spreading disinformation meant to confuse Illinosians about the impacts of the law. This is not the first time Proft has relied on lies and racism to make his arguments. Last month, Proft’s Play by the Rules PAC released a video featuring darkened images of Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot along with misinformation about the Pretrial Fairness Act.

The mailer asks rhetorically what the end of money bail will mean for Illinoisans and their families. For tens of thousands of Illinois families, it will mean that their loved ones will be able to remain in their communities, with their families, while awaiting trial. It will mean that savings will no longer be extracted from low-income families paying to free relatives from jail. And in the long run, it will mean that our children grow up in safer and healthier neighborhoods, with fewer people behind bars and more people employed and contributing to their communities. 

We have detailed four of the most egregious lies featured in the mailer here as a resource for journalists:

1. The mailer’s centerfold includes pictures of people—the vast majority of whom are Black—who it suggests are currently incarcerated in Cook County Jail. It then claims that under the Pretrial Fairness Act, they will be “released to Cook County’s Neighborhoods.” This is a lie. After January 1, 2023, judges will still have the ability to detain every person pictured.

2. “The Summer of Joy” section of the mailer claims that the Pretrial Fairness Act “mandates” that people charged with murder are released while awaiting trial. This is a lie. Any person charged with murder may be denied pretrial release under the Pretrial Fairness Act if they are found to be a danger to others or a flight risk. 

3. The mailer features a list of charges that they claim are “non-detainable” under the Pretrial Fairness Act. This claim is factually incorrect; most of the charges listed are detainable if the person poses a flight risk. And anyone who is arrested for one of these charges while already on pretrial release for another crime can be denied release until trial. 

4. Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow tries to sow fear by suggesting that Drew Peterson—a person convicted of both the murder of his wife and of attempting to hire someone to kill State’s Attorney Glasgow himself—would not have been able to be detained under the Pretrial Fairness Act. This is completely false. Anyone charged with murder who poses a specific, real and present threat to another person can and would be denied release under the Pretrial Fairness Act. In fact, State’s Attorney Glasgow lays out in the article the exact facts that he would be able to present to a judge to have Mr. Peterson jailed without money bond under the Pretrial Fairness Act.

Wealth-based jailing has harmed communities across Illinois for decades. Illinoisians have lost their jobs, homes, and even custody of their children while awaiting trial—all simply because they couldn’t afford to pay a money bond. Notably, pretrial jailing also increases the likelihood that a person will come in contact with the legal system in the future.

The Pretrial Fairness Act was passed following several subject matter hearings and substantially aligns with the recommendations of Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Pretrial Practices final report, which brought together legislators, prosecutors, sheriffs, public defenders, and others to evaluate the state’s pretrial system. The law that passed was modeled on nationally recognized best practices, including policies from multiple jurisdictions that have reduced pretrial jailing without increasing missed court dates or rearrests.