Editorial: More reasons to reform Cook County’s bail system

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Last month, Cook County Sheriff Thomas Dart reported that 13 percent of the more than 10,000 inmates at Cook County Jail had been awaiting trial behind bars for two years or more.

Part of the problem, as outlined in a recent report by the Chicago Reader, is that police don’t always show up for court dates and defense lawyers — fearing retribution from judges or prosecutors — are reluctant to demand speedy trials even as cases stretch on for months or years. Chicago police missed more than 11,000 court dates since 2010, the Reader reported.

That’s yet another reason to overhaul the cash bail system in Cook County. No one should have to spend months or years in jail awaiting trial, especially when all that time behind bars is longer than any sentence a judge is likely to impose. Last year, 1,025 defendants spent more time in jail awaiting trial than their eventual sentences would have called for.

Public defenders and private defense lawyers sometimes are willing to let cases sit on the back burner in the belief that prosecution witnesses may become hard to find or that judges will put pressure on prosecutors to lower charges just to get the case resolved.

But prosecutors also can let cases drag on for defendants who can’t make bail in the hopes that the desire to get out of jail will motivate them to plead guilty. Ninety-five percent of the people incarcerated at Cook County Jail are awaiting trial, not serving sentences, the sheriff says.

Criminal suspects often are required to post cash bail to ensure they will return for trial. Suspects who don’t have the money for bail stay in jail. Last month, the sheriff reported 63 defendants were in jail because they couldn’t scrape together $500 or less.

In one case reported by the Reader, Jermaine Robinson — unable to come up with $7,500 for bail — spent more than four years in jail before the weapon-possessions charges against him were dropped. During that time, the arresting officer repeatedly missed court dates, sometimes even when subpoenaed.

A U.S. Department of Justice study with American University on how Cook County manages its felony cases concluded no sanctions appear to occur when police miss court dates. Another former inmate told the Reader that part of the reason he eventually decided to plead guilty was the failure of a police officer to appear in court, which would have left him in jail awaiting another trial date.

Part of the problem with the cash bail system is that bond-court judges set bail based on limited information after a suspect is arrested, and other judges handling the case after that are reluctant to second-guess the bond-court judges’ decision, some lawyers say.

A defendant who is in custody has the right to demand a trial within 120 days. But some lawyers say prosecutors and judges hint at retribution if a defendant’s lawyer asserts that right. A judge, particularly, can make life difficult for a defendant.

All that adds up to a need to reform the bail system in Cook County.

Some reforms are underway. Cook County Chief Judge Timothy Evans says more people are receiving no-cash bonds or are being freed on electronic monitoring, helping to reduce the jail population. It has dropped by at least 2,000 inmates compared with three years ago.

Even though fewer people are required to post bail, the vast majority of defendants still are showing up for their trial dates, Evans said. A new Public Safety Assessment tool helps bond-court judges decide which defendants can be freed without posing a threat to public safety while they are awaiting trial, he said.

Last month, Dart went further and asked the Legislature to do away with cash bonds altogether.

The court system is making progress. But jail was never intended to be a place where people are incarcerated for months or years just because they can’t make bail.

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