Illinois Purge Law Goes Into Effect January 1st

In just a few days the state of Illinois will have a law they passed earlier in 2022 come to life. The new "Purge" law, better known as a no cash bail law, will lower the detention rate of Illinois jails and could put violent, dangerous, and other offenders back onto the streets.

Starting January 1st, those who commit crimes such as Aggravated Battery, Aggravated DUI, Aggravated Fleeing, Burglary, Arson, Drug-Induced Homicide, Intimidation, Kidnapping, Robbery, 2nd-Degree Murder, and Threatening a public officer could be back amongst the public without posting bail.

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Starting in January of 2023, Illinois will be the first state to institute a purge law. Slow your roll, this isn't quite like the purge in the movies, but can definitely be unsettling for those who reside in the state or visit frequently. Their law is a no cash bail law, meaning there will be no cash bail for 12 different offenses, even some violent offenses. This means these offenders will be back out in the public unless sufficient evidence is posted in 48 hours or less that proves they are a threat deserving to be locked away.

SAFE-T Act

The law is called the SAFE-T Act and SAFE-T stands for Safety, Accountability, Fairness, and Equity Today and is said to be one of the first steps in marks a substantial step toward dismantling systemic racism, which plagues our communities, our state, and our nation and brings us closer to true safety, true fairness, and true justice.

As I said some pretty scary offenses are on that list, but it is just a pretrial release meaning they will still go to court to answer for their actions. It's a double-edged sword, right? Locking them up keeps people safe but costs taxpayers more dollars and overpopulates the understaffed jails and prisons. On the flip side, not jailing them leaves them out to commit more of the same or even worse crimes or gives them an opportunity to flee the state and never answer for their crimes.

If you had to make the decision on locking up some offenders who don't deserve to be there just to keep order and safety, effectively costing taxpayers more dollars, or would you rather save those taxpayers a few dollars while putting them at harm's risk? Do you plan on traveling to Illinois anytime soon? Are you planning to leave Illinois because of this law? There are so many questions but all we can do is wait.