SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WCIA) – Attorney General Kwame Raoul filed an appeal to the Illinois Supreme Court defending the part of a SAFE-T Act that a Kankakee County judge previously ruled the law as unconstitutional.
The Attorney General filed it in Court Thursday, arguing that cash bail is not in the constitution. Among their arguments includes the history of the word bail in the Illinois Constitution does not specifically mean cash bail. This is the state’s opening argument in the case that is expected to go on for at least a couple more months.
“The term “bail” referred to pretrial release more generally, granted on conditions designed to ensure the defendant’s appearance at future court appearances,” the appeal reads. “Indeed, monetary bail was all but unknown at the time the 1818 Constitution was drafted.”
The Court agreed to hear oral arguments from both sides in March. The state’s attorneys have previously agreed to file a response brief by Feb. 17.