Kendall County Times

In a recent interview with WSPY radio, State Rep. Jed Davis (R-Newark) expressed concern over the impact of the soon-to-be-implemented SAFE-T Act in the wake of a court ruling in favor of allowing the cashless bail provision of the law to go forward.

Davis highlighted the potential negative consequences of defunding the police and the growing anti-law enforcement sentiment.

“What you see in Springfield is not a lot of listening to back home,” David told WSPY. “Back home has a lot of you know, they raise a bunch of red flags, a bunch of issues. You had state's attorneys all over the state of Illinois raising red flags on this in Springfield but just ignored them. You see that here in Sandwich and all these solar fields. When Springfield stripped local control from people, everyone's raising red flags from the mayor of Sandwich to you know, people that I've talked to that are representative capacity in Plano and all across the 75th and Springfield, again, just ignores them and strips their power. So this is not what I would consider a good relationship. Down south and up north.” 

“Yeah, it's unfortunate. You know, I think our police departments have done an amazing job. They were ready back in January from talking with Yorkville and Morris and some other agencies. So they've done a great job of pivoting and implementing this new act that is in place.

“I don't think it is what Illinois needs. I think you can kind of look at Oakland out in California and see the side effects there. And now you just had the NAACP, so it's not even like the right-leaning voice speaking up. The NAACP is speaking up saying, hey, that defunding the police and the anti-rhetoric and non-enforcement of our laws is causing a heyday for criminals. And that's their quote, not mine. So it is going to be really interesting to see how things transpire here in Illinois.”

In the landmark decision, the Illinois Supreme Court overruled a lower court judge noting the provision of the SAFE-T Act, which ends cash bail, as constitutional. The 5-2 vote came after a six-month delay caused by legal challenges against the provision. Critics argued that the law restricts judges' discretion in detaining individuals, according to ABC7 Chicago. Courts across the state will have less than two months of preparation period before the new bail rules take effect. 

The implementation of the SAFE-T Act will begin Sept. 18. It will allow for those accused of crimes to be freed without posting cash bail. Critics of the Act include 100 of 102 State’s Attorneys across Illinois, 64 of which signed on to litigation seeking to stop the law. Those efforts were supported by a lower court but were later overturned by the state’s high court of which Democrats have spent tens of millions to get favorable judges elected, The Heartlander reported.

In Southern Illinois, sheriffs have begun warning their constituents they expect an uptick in crime when cashless bail is launched in September. Franklin County Sheriff Kyle Bacon and other sheriffs in southern Illinois are warning of anticipated increased crime rates and victimization following the Illinois Supreme Court's ruling to end cash bail, making Illinois the first state to fully abolish it; law enforcement expresses concerns over the potential consequences of the change and argues that it's an experiment on the backs of crime victims, according to North Egypt News. In addition to ending cash bail, Democrats have passed legislation that restricts the ability to challenge unconstitutional laws, limiting challenges to Democrat-controlled courts in Chicago and Springfield, and raising concerns about the erosion of checks and balances in the state.