Democrats Anticipating Changes to Criminal Justice Law in November
The Illinois House chamber in Springfield. House Democrats are negotiating changes to the controversial criminal justice reform law when lawmakers return in November.
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While the battle over a new law overhauling the state’s criminal justice system continues to play out with rhetoric and hot takes, we’re told House Democrats have been quietly working on changes to the criminal justice reform law during the upcoming veto session.
Appearing on our Livestream and Podcast Wednesday, Rep. Maurice West (D-Rockford) confirmed the House Public Safety Working Group is meeting with a group of prosecutors to discuss changes to the law.
“The Public Safety Working Group in the House is still having conversations with the State’s Attorneys Association and with other advocates,” West said. “We’re cleaning up the language and we’re still talking about it. That’s part of the process that happens in Springfield. I’m a firm believer that we didn’t get it wrong, but we always have something to iron out. And that’s what we’re still working on.”
Julia Rietz, the Democratic Champaign County State’s Attorney and President of the bipartisan Illinois State’s Attorneys Association, confirmed she and three other prosecutors met with the working group to discuss changes to the law during the upcoming veto session.
“The House Public Safety Working Group invited a small group of state’s attorneys to speak with them about issues and concerns about the Pretrial Fairness Act,” Rietz said. “I think it’s clear that everybody involved wants this new law and new process to work. I think they are very interested in addressing some of our concerns and working together to make sure the intent of the legislature fits with the needs and concerns with public safety officials.”
(Disclosure: I did ad buys on Rietz’s 2016 campaign for re-election.)
Rietz declined to discuss specifics of the conversation or to say what changes House Democrats were willing to accept. She said the two sides are exchanging proposed language and ideas for changes.
“The way that everything was left is that we’re going to continue the conversation,” Rietz said. “So, I would take that as that they’re open to our concerns.”
Rietz said her group of prosecutors, including Democrats Jamie Mosser of Kane County and Jody Hoos of Peoria County, as well as Republican Bob Berlin of DuPage County has also spoken with key Senators.
Rep. Jehan Gordon-Booth (D-Peoria) leads the working group. She did not return a message from The Illinoize Thursday. A spokesperson for House Speaker Chris Welch also did not return a message about the discussions.
West says he believes the law is clear in its intention that judges should be allowed to have the final say on whether a defendant is jailed before trial.
“It puts the power in the judge’s hands, which is where it is supposed to be,” he said. “Come January 1, per the law, a judge will do a case-by-case assessment on whether or not an individual can be among society while they await their trial, or if they should be detained.”
Rietz says prosecutors are not asking for the law to be repealed and are not asking for cash bail to stay in effect, but, instead, to make the language of the law more clear.
“We want to understand the intent behind the new law and then help make sure that the language of the statute fits the intent,” Rietz said. “If the intent is to ensure that people who are a risk to the public are detained pre-trial and people who are not a risk are not (held in jail) and that financial means are not the deciding factor, then we agree with that concept. But we want to make sure the statutory language accomplishes that goal.”
Sources say it appears the goal of legislative leaders is to have a “trailer” bill to clean up language issues in the new law ready to go when the General Assembly returns for veto session after the November election.
The new law has received increased scrutiny in recent weeks, specifically online. West says Republicans are distracting from the true meaning of the law.
“I get it. We’re [under two months] from an election and all the other talking points the opposition usually uses are not as effective this cycle,” he said. “So they have to find something and this is a good one to pick up.”
But West conceded Democrats may not have gotten the bill completely right from the start.
“Apparently not,” he said. “But, did we get it wrong? No.”