Chicago City Wire

George Kemper, the Republican candidate to represent State House District 12, is worried about the SAFE-T Act's elimination of cash bail, effective Jan. 1, 2023.

“I believe that bail should either be allowed or not at all depending on the crime and offenders’ past criminal history,” Kemper said. “I view cash bail as a way to place a price on an individual’s freedom.”

Supporters of the Safety, Accountability, Fairness and Equity-Today (SAFE-T) Act, including the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus, point to the legislation as a step toward making the justice system more equitable for minorities. Republicans have called the SAFE-T Act a “de facto defund the police bill" because of its additional regulations on police officers.

“By simply eliminating cash bail, and not implementing any way to prevent offenders from recommitting more crimes, I worry that crime rates will only increase within my community,” Kemper said. 

Multiple state's attorneys expressed concern over the legislation at a media briefing in April, according to the Center Square. 

One state’s attorney said, “With this new law, our hands will be tied. What sane citizen in this state of Illinois would want the state’s attorney’s hands tied, the police hands tied, and give all the perks going to violent offenders? That’s what this law does.”

“As previously stated, I do believe that eliminating cash bail makes the justice system more fair/equitable,” Kemper said. “With that said, I am concerned with the lack of vision used to implement it. I do not think that the elected officials who made this happen thought of its consequences and how to prevent new issues from arising.”

Gov. J.B. Pritzker recently defended the elimination of cash bail, according to The Center Square.

“We do not want someone in jail because they were arrested for a low-level crime like shoplifting to be sitting in jail for months or maybe even years,” Pritzker said. “At the same time, someone who is a wealthy drug dealer, perhaps accused of murder and arrested, can show up with a suitcase full of money and get out of jail.”

State House District 12 includes Lake View and Buena Park.