SPRINGFIELD, IL – Illinois has become the latest state to implement a bail-free criminal justice system that puts the fate of violent criminals in the hands of liberal judges. The criminal justice reform bill signed by Governor J.B. Pritzker will further open the revolving door of justice in Illinois as it has done in other states that have adopted similar criminal reform bills.
Pritzker today said the police are the ones to blame.
“All of this was fueled by the experiences of those who have lived with police brutality and discrimination in this terrible year in the middle of a brutal viral pandemic that hurt Black people and brown people disproportionately,” the Governor said. “These lawmakers fought to address the pandemic of systemic racism in the wake of national protests over the murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery and Tamir Rice and Eric Garner and Quintonio LeGrier and Laquan McDonald and so many others. They transformed the pain into progress and in just a few moments into law.”
The Illinois Sheriff’s Association strongly condemned the bill. A coalition representing Illinois law enforcement leadership and rank-and-file officers has issued a statement about Governor J.B. Pritzker’s signing of the law enforcement and criminal justice legislation that passed the Illinois General Assembly during the Lame Duck Session:
“In signing this bill into law, Governor Pritzker chose to listen to a few strident political voices rather than the 120,000 petition signing citizens who plainly saw the bill for what it is. This new law is a blatant move to punish an entire, honorable profession that will end up hurting law-abiding citizens the most,” the association said in a joint statement. “Because we are sworn to protect and serve the public, we sincerely hope that we will not be proven right about this new law, that it won’t cause police officers to leave the profession in droves and handcuff those who remain so they can’t stop crimes against people and property. Please don’t let us measure its dismal failure by the shattered lives it produces. We urge all citizens to remember who supported this law, and keep that in mind the next time they look to the police in Illinois for the protection they can no longer provide.”
