Springfield, IL (CAPITOL CITY NOW) – You might guess who Republican candidate for Governor, Darren Bailey, says is to blame for the SAFE-T Act, and how in terms of pre-trial fairness it allegedly hasn’t worked.
“Governor JB Pritzker signed the SAFE-T Act. He pushed the SAFE-T Act. He defended the SAFE-T Act. And JB Pritzker owns this,” said Bailey, at a State Capitol news conference Thursday morning, next to the capitol’s memorial to fallen police officers.
Bailey called the ability of a Chicago man who allegedly killed a police officer there, and the fact the suspect was out on pre-trial release at the time “a complete failure of leadership.”
Bailey is promoting reforms that would include strengthening pre-trial detention, and improving electronic monitoring. Those are some of the proposals in a proposed bill he calls the “Officer John Bartholomew Public Safety and Pretrial Justice Proposal.” He named the proposal in memory of the officer.
“The SAFE-T Act flipped the system on its head, instead of protecting law-abiding families,” said Bailey. “It bends over backwards for criminals, and assumes release first, and its puts public safety second. That’s backwards, and that’s dangerous.”
In a Springfield appearance earlier this week, Governor JB Pritzker described what happened in Chicago as a result of a bad decision made by a judge in letting the suspect go before trial. When asked about that Thursday, Bailey said, “Of course, JB Pritzker would say that, because he wants to push any responsibility away from his feet on to someone else,” claiming that the Pretrial Fairness Act “handcuffs” judges.
The series of reforms Bailey is proposing are similar to ones that were in part introduced in the legislature Wednesday by lawmakers including House Republican leader Tony McCombie.
Bailey admitted he’s still looking for a lawmaker to introduce his bill, and wasn’t familiar with House Bill 5757.
