Illinois is first state to eliminate cash bail, a penalty affecting low-income communities most

By JOHN O’CONNOR
AP Political Writer

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Illinois became the first state in the nation to eliminate cash bail as a condition of pretrial release from jail on Tuesday. The state Supreme Court upheld the constitutionally of the law abolishing it. The 5-2 ruling overturns a Kankakee County judge’s opinion in December that the law violated the constitution’s provision that bail be a condition of release from jail pending trial. Proponents of eliminating cash bail say it’s a penalty on poverty. They say the wealthy can buy their way out of jail while those in economic distress are stuck behind bars. Other states and locales have made changes to cash bail. But Illinois is the first to abolish it. Judges may still decide to keep violent defendants behind bars.