Springfield, IL – 100 of 102 Illinois State’s Attorneys have come out against the [un] SAFE-T act – including multiple Democratic States Attorneys who have filed lawsuits to stop its most dangerous provisions that go into effect on January 1st 2023. Meanwhile, Speaker of the House Chris Welch is doubling down on House Democrats’ support with open arms.

From the Chicago Tribune yesterday:

“Despite continuing criticism about the law that will do away with cash bail next year, Illinois House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch doubled down in his support for the SAFE-T Act, addressing critics head on during a City Club speech.”

As reported by NBC5 Chicago:

“The debate over the SAFE-T Act is pitting Democrats against members of their own party. Today Speaker of the house Chris Welch defended the wide-ranging bill but several States Attorneys are suing the Governor and the Attorney General saying the changes are unconstitutional.

In his speech, Welch defended the Act despite its extreme unpopularity with the general public, saying “We know the SAFE-T Act will help people, it will help people.”

Violent crime in Chicago is up 37% over this time last year. Meanwhile, since similarly eliminating cash bail for most nonviolent offenses in 2019, New York City has seen a massive spike in crime citywide. It has also increased recidivism – 20.1% of “felony arraignments” are rearrested, with 16.1% failing to appear at arraignment.

“It’s unclear who the ‘people’ are that Speaker Welch feels that the un-SAFE-T Act will help, because the Act will lead to the release of more dangerous criminals and more crime in our communities,” said Illinois Republican Party Chairman Don Tracy. “The question remains, does Democratic leadership in the General Assembly even care about law-abiding citizens of Illinois including crime victims? With so many Illinois Democrat legislators recently indicted for criminal misconduct, it may be that protecting career criminals is more of a priority for Democrat legislators than public safety.”

Seven members of the Illinois General Assembly and nine Chicago Democrat Aldermen and women have been indicted, convicted or plead guilty since 2019. Also, the [un] SAFE-T Act’s chief sponsor, Senator Elgie Sims, is now under federal criminal investigation, and another Democrat – Senator Michael Hastings – has faced accusations of domestic violence and workplace harassment.

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