Will County Gazette

State Rep. Mark Batinick (R-Plainfield) recently criticized Illinois Democrats for passing the SAFE-T Act and said it will make the state less safe and should be repealed. The legislature has a chance to repeal the bill during the upcoming Veto Session.

"It is our duty as lawmakers to enact sound public policies and work in the best interest of our residents. Democrats failed the people of Illinois when they passed the SAFE-T Act, a reckless law that puts every community across the state at risk," Batinick wrote in an Oct. 28 Facebook post. "The SAFE-T Act needs to be repealed today to ensure the safety of Illinois residents."

Supporters of the Safety, Accountability, Fairness and Equity-Today (SAFE-T) Act, including the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus, point to the legislation as a step towards making the justice system more equitable for minorities. Republicans have called the SAFE-T Act a “de facto defund the police bill" because of the additional regulations it places on law enforcement, Capitol News Illinois reported.

The SAFE-T Act, a 700-page criminal justice reform bill, has been the subject of controversy over a provision that eliminates cash bail for people who commit a variety of crimes including kidnapping, burglary, and aggravated DUI, effective Jan. 1, Fox Chicago reported. Dan Kirk, a former high-ranking member of the Cook County State's Attorney Office, told Fox that he was concerned that the SAFE-T Act "severely limits a judge's discretion in who a judge can hold, even when that person is clearly a danger to the community. And that's the scary proposition about this. Unless the state asks that the person be detained, and the state can prove that the person has a specific intention to flee the jurisdiction, that individual cannot be detained in jail prior to trial." Kirk called the bill a "get out of jail free card." The SAFE-T Act will likely be the topic of debate during the upcoming legislative session this month.

Illinois House Republicans introduced legislation to repeal the SAFE-T Act and have circulated a petition through which residents can show they support repealing the bill. As of Oct. 31, the petition had more than 10,000 signatures.

The majority of Illinois' 102 state's attorneys have filed lawsuits over the legislation, ABC reported.