Five years ago today, the Illinois General Assembly passed the Pretrial Fairness Act as part of the SAFE-T Act. For more than five years leading up to that historic moment, communities across our state organized and advocated to end money bail, the practice of charging legally innocent people for their freedom while awaiting trial. The 40 member organizations of the Illinois Network for Pretrial Justice were joined by more than 200 organizations in supporting the Pretrial Fairness Act.

On this anniversary, we look back on what we said about the importance of this win in its immediate aftermath:

More than a quarter of a million people are incarcerated in Illinois’ county jails every year, and 90% of them are locked up while still awaiting trial. The majority of people in Illinois jails are incarcerated only because they can’t afford to pay a money bond. For decades, wealth-based pretrial incarceration has destabilized communities across Illinois by causing people to lose their jobs, housing, and even custody of their children. The Pretrial Fairness Act’s passage will ensure that no one is caged in the state of Illinois simply because they cannot afford to pay a money bond.

Five years later, hundreds of millions of dollars that would have been used to purchase the presumption of innocence are instead staying in our state’s most marginalized communities. Judges receive more information and are getting more time to make pretrial release and detention decisions. And the biggest critique of the law, that it would cause “the end of days,” has proven to be nothing more than racist fear mongering. 

In the over two years since the law went into effect, fewer people are being incarcerated awaiting trial and communities across our state have seen a significant decrease in both violent and property crime. The people who’ve benefitted from the law are also showing that the system is working. In our state’s largest court system, the vast majority of people on pretrial release are succeeding: 94% of the more than 130,000 people released pretrial have not been charged with new offenses against a person.

We must remember that the Pretrial Fairness Act was passed in direct response to the largest civil rights protests in our country’s history, which erupted after the police murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. Illinois’ Legislative Black Caucus heard the calls from our communities and responded boldly, making Illinois a national leader in the fight for pretrial reform.

Five years later though, this historic civil rights legislation is still under attack—not because of any failure of the law but from pressure created by years of fear mongering from Republicans, law enforcement officials, and now the Trump administration. Instead of advocating for the resources our communities need to thrive, these entities have focused on spreading misinformation and weaponizing individual acts of violence with no connection to the Pretrial Fairness Act.

We are calling on elected officials to continue to meet the moment. For the last five years, members of the General Assembly have bravely defended this legislation. Now is not the time to capitulate to lies, hate, and racism. On this anniversary, we urge the members of the 104th General Assembly to stand strong against calls to roll back the Pretrial Fairness Act. Our communities will be right there with you.