[ChicagoTribune] Cook County judges will soon be explicitly required to set affordable bond amounts for defendants who do not pose a danger to the public.Like Inner-City Gangbangers that don't frequent the North Shore or trendy suburbs where the judges live
Beginning Sept. 18, judges will be prohibited from setting a higher bond than felony defendants can afford to pay. The same rule will apply to misdemeanor cases starting in January.
Critics have said the current setup unfairly punishes people who pose no risk of violence but languish in Cook County Jail because they cannot afford bail sometimes of only a few hundred dollars.
State law already requires judges to consider a defendant's financial circumstances before setting bond. The law says the bond cannot be "oppressive," but critics say judges often flout that requirement.
Late last year, on the heels of similar lawsuits in eight other states, advocates filed a proposed class-action lawsuit in Cook County Circuit Court alleging that criminal court judges routinely set cash bail at unaffordable levels, depriving arrestees of their constitutional right to pretrial liberty.
What about the liberties of the average folks in the communities where these miscreants operate?
Under the new Cook County policy, defendants will be interviewed about their financial resources before a bond hearing. That information will be provided to judges, who then will be required to set a bond that the defendant "has the present ability to pay," according to the policy.
And like they're going to correctly tell you their financial status
"I think people who are arrested will be given the full recognition that they are presumed innocent," Cook County Chief Judge Timothy Evans, who signed the order outlining the new policy, told the Tribune in a telephone interview.
"Even when we see them shoot or stab someone, they're INNOCENT I tell ya"
Defendants who are currently in jail because they cannot afford to post bond can have a judge reconsider their bail after the new policy takes effect, Evans said. "And they'll vote for me in the next election"
Judges will then be required to deny bail altogether or set a new bond in an amount the defendant can afford.
Advocates of bond reform, including Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx, applauded the decision.
They all live in the suburbs, too
"There is often no clear relationship between the posting of a cash bond and securing the safety of the community or the appearance of a defendant," Foxx said in a statement Monday. "As a result, far too many people have been detained pre-trial because they are poor and unable to post even minimal amounts for bond."
Since taking office late last year, Foxx has taken several steps toward reforming bail. In March she announced that prosecutors would no longer oppose the release of some detainees held on nonviolent offenses who were stuck in jail because they could not pay up to $1,000 cash on their bonds. In June her office announced that prosecutors would recommend recognizance bonds for some defendants.
Cara Smith, chief policy officer for Sheriff Tom Dart said it remains to be seen if the policy will affect the Cook County Jail population, given that judges already were supposed to consider a defendant's financial situation when setting bond.
Where's the graft in that?
As many as about 400 detainees remain in jail on any given day because they are unable to pay bonds of up to $1,000 cash, Smith said.
Probably should have been actually doing something productive rather than whatever they did, then
It costs about $160 per day -- or nearly $60,000 per year -- to house one person at the jail, Smith said. If the detainee has medical or mental health needs, that cost can soar higher.
They could take lessons from Sherriff Joe, but they probably won't
Activists will continue to keep a close eye on judges to make sure they comply with the law, said Sharlyn Grace, co-founder of the Chicago Community Bond Fund,
See - 'Community Organizer'
which helps detainees post bail from jail.
"It is as effective as it is followed by judges," Grace said.
"And if we continue to collect donations and grant money"