Share Source: LightFieldStudios/iStock/Getty Images Plus Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D) on Monday signed a criminal justice reform bill that eliminates the cash bail. The Prairie State is the first state in the country to eliminate the system. Those who take issues with cash bail frequently say poorer communities of color are disproportionately impacted by the system. "This legislation marks a substantial step toward dismantling the systemic racism that plagues our communities, our state and our nation and brings us closer to true safety, true fairness and true justice," Pritzker said in a statement. "In this terrible year, in the middle of a brutal viral pandemic that hurt Black people and Brown people disproportionately, lawmakers fought to address the pandemic of systemic racism in the wake of national protests. This bill was also infused with solutions from individuals most directly impacted: survivors of domestic violence, survivors of crime, and those who have been detained pre-trial only because they are poor. Today we advance our values in the law - progress secured despite the pandemic, because of the passion and push of the Legislative Black Caucus, activists, advocates, and residents intent on leaving a better Illinois for all our children."