Dupage Policy Journal

Rep. Seth Lewis says he does not support any of the reform efforts toward improving the SAFE-T Act.

State Rep. Seth Lewis (R-Bartlett) said eliminating cash bail will endanger community members, and he supports reforming the SAFE-T Act.

"The SAFE-T Act has garnered endless feedback across our state since it was passed; I did not vote in favor of it in the legislature but I do support reform efforts to improve it so that our state can be safer and we can have the backs of our police officers," Lewis said. "Most recently, this law has been in the limelight for the upcoming impacts it will have regarding the elimination of Illinois' cash bail system starting January 1st. This is a dangerous provision: people can no longer be held in custody prior to trial for offenses like robbery, arson, kidnapping, drug trafficking, and more. The elimination of cash bail will reduce public safety and put communities across the state at risk. I stand ready and willing to work toward improving public safety—which means working to reform the dangerous implications of this law that will only cause more harm to our communities and families across Illinois."

Gov. J.B. Pritzker said at a recent campaign stop that he believes people don't understand the SAFE-T Act, so he is open to considering "tweaks to the legislation" and changing the language "so that people will understand," Fox News reported. Zack Smith, a legal fellow and manager of the Supreme Court and Appellate Advocacy Program at The Heritage Foundation, said, "I think the problem is that people understand it perfectly fine and what the plain language of the bill says is disastrous. So this idea that people have somehow misunderstood it, particularly local elected states attorneys who will be charged with implementing the legislation, is rich coming from the governor."

100 of Illinois' 102 state's attorneys have said they oppose the bill, with many other lawmakers and law enforcement officials specifically pushing back against the elimination of cash bail. Critics have also expressed concern over provisions of the bill that they believe will hamper law enforcement and that will allow currently incarcerated people to be released. 

"I know the governor disputes this but there are currently incarcerated individuals who are going to be released when this bill takes effect," Smith said. "So you're talking about not only the prospective application of this, but also the immediate flood of people that are going to be released back onto the streets statewide when this bill takes effect. And that, I would say, is going to have a very negative impact on public safety in Illinois."

Illinois is the first state in the country moving to eliminate cash bail, Fox News reported.

As of Jan. 1, the following offenses will be considered "non-detainable": arson, burglary, aggravated battery, aggravated DUI, aggravated fleeing, drug-induced homicide, intimidation, kidnapping, robbery, threatening a public official, and 2nd degree murder. People who are charged with those crimes will be released without bail.