Today, the Illinois Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in a lawsuit filed by Illinois State’s Attorneys challenging the constitutionality of the Pretrial Fairness Act, a law passed by the Illinois legislature to end the state’s use of money bond.

The Pretrial Fairness Act was passed in January 2021 following the largest racial justice protests in our nation’s history. Legislators came together under the leadership of the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus to pass several omnibus bills aimed at addressing systemic racism in our state. Every year, nearly a quarter million people pass through Illinois jails; the vast majority of these people are incarcerated only because they can’t afford to pay a money bond. Notably, in nearly every corner of the state, Black people are disproportionately subjected to wealth-based incarceration. 

Communities across Illinois anxiously await a decision from the Supreme Court on the future of money bond in our state. For decades, this practice has caused people to lose their jobs, housing and even custody of their children. Instead of making our communities safer, wealth-based jailing has further endangered the communities most impacted by crime by destabilizing the lives of the accused and their families as well as extracting millions of dollars from our state’s poorest residents so that they could free their loved one’s from custody.

Last summer, members of the Illinois Network for Pretrial Justice watched bond court in counties across the state. Throughout the state, our courtwatchers found that money bonds were being set arbitrarily and above what most people could afford. The DuPage and Kane County courthouses are just 13 miles from each other. In DuPage County, 83% of people have to pay money bonds, and in Kane County just 30% of people do. Racial disparities were also pervasive; only 9% of people living in the seven counties we observed are Black, but Black people accounted for 44% of the people we saw in bond court.

We are hopeful that the Illinois Supreme Court will swiftly correct the poorly reasoned decision made by the trial court. We stand ready to assist counties across Illinois in implementing the Pretrial Fairness Act and making our state a leader in pretrial justice. 

Resources for Understanding the Pretrial Fairness Act Lawsuit

• Illinois Network for Pretrial Justice presentation on the legal arguments being made in the lawsuit challenging the Pretrial Fairness Act.
• Amicus brief filed on behalf of 426 organizations and individual elected officials, faith leaders, and professors.
• $tate of Injustice: A Community Review of Bond Courts in Illinois a report released in November of 2022 evaluating the role of money bond in seven counties.