217 Today: Illinois Supreme Court becomes the first state to end cash bail system

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The George Leighton Criminal Courthouse at 2650 S. California Ave. in Little Village, pictured in May 2022.
  • Photo: Anthony Vazquez / Chicago Sun-Times

Thursday, July 20, 2023

Today’s headlines: 

  • Illinois will eliminate cash bail in September after the state supreme court upheld a law that made it so courts could only hold someone pretrial if they were a risk to public safety or likely to try and flee.
  • Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul Wednesday joined his Democratic peers in countering a letter sent by Republican attorneys general to Fortune 100 companies.
  • The next leader of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition vows to keep the civil rights organization founded by the Reverend Jesse Jackson in Chicago.
  • An Illinois Congresswoman is speaking out against the state’s more inclusive policies for transgender youth.

In today’s deep dive, we’ll learn more about how Illinois will become the first state in the nation to end cash bail this fall.

Reporting today contributed by Shannon Heffernan, Alex Degman, Mawa Iqbal, Tessa Weinberg, Linda Kenyon and Mary Dixon.

 

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Farrah Anderson

Farrah Anderson is a 2024 graduate of the University of Illinois. At Illinois Public Media, Anderson works as a general assignment reporter focusing on police and investigative stories.