Governor Pritzker signed the SAFE-T Act into law in February 2021 and it has since been amended four times by Illinois Democrats over the past two years. The Safety Accountability, Fairness & Equity Today Act was purported to keep Illinois families safer. But, that has not been the outcome for those who are already battling crime in their neighborhoods.
The Illinois Safe-T Act brought monumental changes to our criminal justice system related to pre-arrest diversion, policing, pretrial procedures, sentencing, elimination of cash bail, and corrections.
State Representative Travis Weaver states: “Words matter—naming a bill the “SAFE-T Act” when in reality it makes us less safe is shameful. This law, passed by Democrats in the middle of the night three years ago, makes Illinoisans less safe by releasing violent criminals back on the streets and making it harder for judges to jail violent and repeat offenders until their court date. This almost guarantees that person will not show up to their court date to receive sentencing.
We could have agreed on common sense solutions to bail and criminal justice reform in a bipartisan way. The so-called “SAFE-T Act” is not it.”
Click here to reference the full Act for specifics and exact language.
In case you missed some of the media reports about the outcomes of the SAFE-T Act and drug abuse and misguided decriminalization efforts in Illinois, please see the articles linked below: