Chicago City Wire

On September 18, the cashless bail era in Illinois begins and Patricia Wenskunas, Founder/CEO of Crime Survivors, Inc. is alarmed over the silence surrounding the impact the new law will almost certainly have on crime.

“The offenders get back on the street right away, and now will have no reason to show up and face justice,” Wenskunas told Chicago City Wire. “The first thing they’re going to do is go after the one who got them arrested in the first place. You’re revictimizing the victims with this law.”

On July 18, the Illinois Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of cashless bail, the most controversial provision of the SAFE-T Act, the revamping of the criminal justice system approved late last year by the General Assembly in Springfield.

The law will almost certainly come with some real-world consequences.

In August 2022, the Yolo County District Attorney’s office released an analysis of the impact of the two-year long program, the “Emergency Bail Release” program to lower its prison population to mitigate the spread of Covid-19.

The DA found that the rate of recidivism was far higher for those who paid no bail.

"In this study, individuals released on zero bail were subsequently rearrested for a total of 163% more crimes than individuals released on bail," the study noted.

“Despite all of our best efforts to try and stop the practice, we were forced to continue to do the zero bail system and we saw our communities suffer as a result. We saw more victimization," District Attorney Jeff Reisig told Fox News.

Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx, and other supporters of the new law, argue it advances equal justice.

“What this is seeking to address is if you’re a threat to the public, no matter how much access to cash you have, you should be detained if you are a threat,” Foxx told WTTW for a recent report.

Wenskunas says that money and fairness under the law have nothing to do with it.

“We’re talking about people who don’t even like to use the term ‘prisoner’ or ‘criminal,’” Wenskunas said. “It’s all about advancing their political agenda and not the money.”

She added that the bail system in America does need to be reformed but not holding suspects accountable is not reform.

“In 2023 the scales of justice are not balanced, and this is not being reported,” she said.