Six months in, the Pretrial Fairness Act is working

Up until the vote and eventual implementation of the Pretrial Fairness Act, right-wing politicians across the state led misinformation campaigns, highly over-politicizing the legislation. These dog whistles attempted to take attention away from the unequal, unjust incarceration practices occurring in Illinois. However, six months after the Pretrial Fairness Act took effect, we’re seeing what advocates knew to be true all along — that the legislation would work.

Under the old money bond system, judges set a monetary amount for a person to purchase their freedom rather than assess whether a person could return safely to his or her community. Unsurprisingly, money bail did not make us safer. Instead, wealth-based detention became a tool of oppression for Black communities for decades. In 2019 in Illinois, Black people made up 51% of the jail population, almost four times the share of Black people in the state’s population.

Rather, research shows that a system in which judges consider a person’s safety risk instead of utilizing arbitrary monetary amounts is far more effective at ensuring that people return to court.

Since the implementation of the Pretrial Fairness Act, the jail populations in several counties have decreased because people are no longer held because they simply cannot afford to bail themselves out.

Additionally, judges are now giving each person before them the attention they deserve before determining release. Before the act, judges in some places made decisions in four minutes. Now, an average hearing on release lasts 22 minutes. More people can go home and freely access adequate health care, stable housing and familial support rather than remaining in jail disconnected from their support systems.

The Pretrial Fairness Act does not and cannot solve all of the inherent injustices in our legal system, and we must also remember how many more problems there are to tackle. We must address other areas where racial disparities are rampant in the legal system, like in arrests, charging, and sentencing, and invest in our communities to address the causes of crime before one happens.

But we also should celebrate the Pretrial Fairness Act as an important step in advancing racial justice and creating more equitable practices in our criminal legal system. We must continue to protect and fight for the Pretrial Fairness Act, and never turn back.

Rev. Ciera Bates-Chamberlain, executive director of LIVE FREE Illinois; Rev. Dr. Otis Moss III, senior pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago; Father Michael Pfleger; Rabbi Seth Limmer

Health hazards on the CTA

This is not a criticism, and sadly this is a common, known urban occurrence that needs better public proactive attention: As a frequent visitor to Chicago, I see the problem of homelessness and mental illness is a crisis here just as it is in so many cities. Among the myriad concerns I have for homeless individuals, I also find the health and well-being of all the residents and visitors in Chicago at risk.

While riding the CTA trains and buses, I have seen passengers sitting in their own body fluids and feces. Until Feb. 15, I would get off the train car and move to another car at the very next station because the smell is so nauseating. Or, I would get off a bus and wait for another.

Whether right or wrong, for the first time yesterday I snapped a picture of a passed-out man sitting in his feces and gathered the L train car number, the station we were at and the direction it was heading. I reported this info and showed the picture of the, to be frank, public health hazard to the CTA, which was able to remove the person and clean the biohazards left behind.

I never see anybody say anything to address this sad and complicated public health hazard. People really should document and say where and be proactive. Too often, little children lay their heads on the seats, and really just anybody riding the train and sitting in the filth is pretty awful. This is my opinion and concern. I hope more people will speak up about this. Despite any negatives ChiTown may have, it is still one of the greatest places. May this city remain resilient and beautiful.

Mark Murphy, St. Petersburg, Florida

Check out these nonpartisan voting guides

Regarding the Sun-Times story on Feb. 25 regarding “Who to vote for?” I hope the reporter provided the citizens he spoke to with information about some of the many non-partisan candidate information places for voters to find information about candidates. The Sun-Times/WBEZ has their own voter guide. The League of Women Voters of Illinois publishes a guide online that covers every race in the state. WTTW, the local public television station, has a guide that includes Q&As and some videos of candidates. None of these entities endorse candidates or political parties.

In addition, for judicial candidates, there is the non-partisan Vote for Judges site that publishes evaluations from 14 bar associations in Cook County, along with local media endorsements. There is also the guide to judges published by Injustice Watch. The information is available. What may be needed is for news entities to publish a list of them for people to check out.

Priscilla Mims, New East Side