But Illinois is about to overhaul the system that upended Ross’ life. Illinois’ Pretrial Fairness Act, which abolishes cash bail as a condition of pretrial release, will take effect Sept. 18, making Illinois the first state to end cash bail and a testing ground for whether — and how — it works on a large scale.

Judges can still keep people accused of serious crimes behind bars pretrial, but first would have to go through a more rigorous review of each case.

Critics say cash bail policies are especially unfair to Black people and other people of color. A 2022 federal civil rights report on cash bail systems found that courts tend to impose higher pretrial detention penalties on Black and Latino people, citing a study that showed Black men received bail amounts 35% higher than white men, and Latino men received bail amounts 19% higher than white men.

  • He’s kinda been crushing it. Definitely a pleasant surprise. I think putting 50 million of his own dollars towards campaigning for a tax system that would dramatically raise his own taxes was a pretty impressive demonstration that his approach is a bit different from Trump’s.

    Also women’s healthcare, refugee support structures, LGBT inclusivity, legal recreational weed, union support, Election Day as a state holiday…the dude doesn’t suck.

    • @bobman@unilem.org
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      51 year ago

      If only he could allow Illinois citizens to grow their own weed.

      Nah. Still gotta look out for his buddies, lol.

      • @Curiousfur@yiffit.net
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        111 year ago

        Makes it easier for the next governor to do, so don’t let perfect be the enemy of good. I live in a state where I can take a huge amount of these things for granted, but as a result I feel like there’s less of a push to change things that are still a problem, so I’m always happy to see Midwestern states making progress because it motivates people in other states to make change too.

        • HubertManne
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          21 year ago

          I agree. Im disapointed in the lack of grow but we are in an oasis for our neighbors. Honestly might as well suck up the tax revenue until the holdout states invariably cave.

      • @DrPop
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        11 year ago

        You just need a medical marijuana card, but finding a doctor who will issue one is a different story.