The Illinois Network for Pretrial Justice strongly opposes SB4228, the Safe-T Act trailer bill introduced today to modify the Pretrial Fairness provisions of the law. If passed, this bill would cause the number of people jailed while awaiting trial to skyrocket and exacerbate racial disparities in Illinois’ jails.

The Pretrial Fairness Act was passed after the police murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor galvanized millions of people to demand action to address the racism that permeates the criminal legal system. The changes being proposed are in complete opposition to the spirit of those calls for racial justice and criminal legal system reform. The Pretrial Fairness Act was designed to ensure that everyone has access to the presumption of innocence, and the changes included in SB4228 would deny all Illinoisians that right. If passed, these measures would create a pretrial system that is far worse than the one in place today.

It is absolutely essential that any changes to the Pretrial Fairness Act be made in the same spirit in which it was written. Using this historic legislation as a vehicle for incarcerating more Black and brown people would be a slap in the face to the communities that have suffered under the injustices of the money bond system for decades.