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ARI SHAPIRO, HOST: Most people in the U.S. who are being held in jail have not been convicted of a crime. Instead, they are awaiting trial. For some, that wait can take weeks or even years if they can t afford to pay a cash bail to be released. That practice is controversial. While a few states have taken steps to change their cash bail system, Illinois will become the first to ditch it entirely. NPR s Cheryl Corley reports.
CHERYL CORLEY, BYLINE: Critics of cash bail have a name for it. They call it the poor people s tax, leaving those who can t come up with the money for bail stuck in jail while they wait for their case to be heard. Fifty-seven-year-old Flonard Wrencher says he knows all about that.
AP News Minute: One day after President-elect Joe Biden unveiled his $1.9 trillion rescue plan to fight the coronavirus and bolster the U.S. economy, Biden pledged to ramp up the vaccine distribution effort by invoking a Cold War-era law called the Defense Production Act to direct private manufacturing. President Donald Trump will leave Washington D.C. and fly to Florida next Wednesday, just before Joe Bidenâs inauguration as America s 46th president and much more.
BLOOMINGTONÂ â Central Illinois law enforcement leaders on Friday criticized the recent passage of a criminal justice reform bill in the Illinois General Assembly and thanked citizens for their support.
Originally House Bill 163 and now House Bill 3653, the law was written by the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus, and includes among other things ending cash bail for non-violent offenders state-wide, requiring all police officers in the state to wear body cameras, expanding use of force guidelines and training for police, prohibiting chokeholds, and requires the maintenance of misconduct records and the use of special prosecutors in officer-involved deaths.
The new bill was amended with proposals from Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul: including creating uniformity for officers and departments across the state, creating an easier and more uniform system of police certification and de-certification, and giving the Illinois Attorney General s Office authority under state law to investigate and resolve patterns or practices of unconstitutional policing.
The Illinois General Assembly on Wednesday passed sweeping criminal justice reforms that include the elimination of cash bail and a requirement that police officers in the state wear body cameras.
Sweeping crime reform passes, but with opposition
Darren Iozia
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State Rep. Justin Slaughter is swarmed after a criminal justice reform bill passes the Illinois House during a lame-duck session Wednesday.
A sweeping overhaul of the criminal justice system in Illinois has passed, but is receiving a backlash from unions and law enforcement groups.
House Bill 3653, formerly House Bill 163, was passed by the Senate about 5 a.m. Wednesday and by the House in the waning minutes of a lame duck session. Gov. J.B. Pritzker must still sign it into law.
The proposal, supported by the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus, sought to ban the use of chokeholds and no-knock warrants as well as end cash bail provisions.