Opponents of cash bail say it forces those accused to be locked up because of their inability to pay, even though they haven’t been convicted.
But many Illinois law enforcement officials including Knox County Sheriff David Clague say it’s an important tool to get people accused to show up to court.
Clague spoke with WGIL about why he’s opposed to Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s proposal to end the cash bail system in Illinois.
Clague anticipates the bill will likely be passed this session but as of Thursday, no bill had been introduced.
“Right now we currently have over 4,000 arrest warrants on file. And I will dare say that somewhere around 75-80 percent of them are referred to as FTAs, failure to appear. Technically that is something where somebody has posted cash bail and got out of jail and ‘the heck with going back to court.'”
But Illinois law enforcement officials including Clague say cash bail is the best way to make sure those accused show for court.
“Without cash bail, one of the many questions is what is the courts going to do. Obviously, if the criminal doesn’t really give cents about being arrested again. So, if they issue a ‘failure to appear’ warrant, we’re going to go through the same scenario that we’re going through now.”
Clague says he also sees eliminating cash bail as leading to more issues getting witnesses to come forward.
He gives an example if someone witnesses a crime, comes forward and the accused is immediately released.
He thinks it’s unlikely that a person would come forward as a witness again.
