But Illinois is about to overhaul the system that upended Ross’ life. Illinois’ Pretrial Fairness Act, which abolishes cash bail as a condition of pretrial release, will take effect Sept. 18, making Illinois the first state to end cash bail and a testing ground for whether — and how — it works on a large scale.

Judges can still keep people accused of serious crimes behind bars pretrial, but first would have to go through a more rigorous review of each case.

Critics say cash bail policies are especially unfair to Black people and other people of color. A 2022 federal civil rights report on cash bail systems found that courts tend to impose higher pretrial detention penalties on Black and Latino people, citing a study that showed Black men received bail amounts 35% higher than white men, and Latino men received bail amounts 19% higher than white men.

  • AmberPrince@kbin.social
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    1 year ago

    When Pritzker first got elected I was incredibly dubious. After all, we already had Trump as President and here is Pritzker, another hotel magnate, claiming he could do great things for Illinois. I have since been pretty impressed with everything he has done.

    • twice_twotimes@sh.itjust.works
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      1 year ago

      He’s kinda been crushing it. Definitely a pleasant surprise. I think putting 50 million of his own dollars towards campaigning for a tax system that would dramatically raise his own taxes was a pretty impressive demonstration that his approach is a bit different from Trump’s.

      Also women’s healthcare, refugee support structures, LGBT inclusivity, legal recreational weed, union support, Election Day as a state holiday…the dude doesn’t suck.

      • bobman@unilem.org
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        1 year ago

        If only he could allow Illinois citizens to grow their own weed.

        Nah. Still gotta look out for his buddies, lol.

        • DrPop@lemmy.one
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          1 year ago

          You just need a medical marijuana card, but finding a doctor who will issue one is a different story.