Pretrial justice is working in Illinois | Opinion

Our system of justice — and indeed the rule of law — is suffering a stress test in our current political moment.

Presidential confidante and the owner of the X social media platform Elon Musk recently called for judges to be removed or impeached because he disagreed with decisions limiting the authorities of the Trump Administration in our constitution.

Because of these threats and others from members of the Trump Administration, judges report receiving death threats, having their homes swatted and living with an increased sense of fear.

This dangerous behavior is not limited to Washington, D.C. and issues at the federal level. We saw it right here in Rockford this month after a judge followed state law and released, pending trial, a person accused of participating in the tragic killing of Kyle Stephens. We grieve his death and extend our sincere condolences to his family and friends.

We write today to address the public debate that followed after the accused person’s release.

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Reasonable people can disagree with the decision to release this individual, but the reaction that followed was far from reasonable. People have harassed and attacked the judge, alarming the Chief Judge so much that he spoke out to condemn the attacks.

We need to stop this behavior. Disagreeing with a court decision is not a reason for threats of violence. We also need to recall why Illinois adopted the Pretrial Fairness Act in the first instance and stop the hyperbole and lies about the law itself.

For many years, our state operated under a pretrial system that was fundamentally unjust.

Like many states, Illinois courts held people in jail before their trial simply because they couldn’t afford to purchase their freedom. This system caused great harm, equating poverty with guilt and wealth with innocence. Nothing about that system definitively advanced public safety.

If someone accused of a crime could pay an exorbitant fee, even in a high profile case, they were able to be released from jail while awaiting trial. In addition to not advancing public safety, the old money bond system perpetuated cycles of poverty. It destroyed lives before anyone made a legal determination of guilt. Those unable to afford bail faced higher conviction rates, longer sentences and increased pressure to accept plea deals.

Our old money bond system also had a profound human cost.

It took more than $140 million a year from the most vulnerable families and communities in Illinois. Families had to choose between paying rent and freeing a loved one. Neighbors lost custody of children, lost jobs and lost housing – all before a court of law had even determined they had committed a crime.

That archaic money bond system also disproportionately harmed Black and brown communities by adding cash bail to existing racial wealth gaps.

The old system perpetuated existing racial inequities, and the opposition to reform echoes the racist rhetoric we have heard over and over when talking about criminal justice reform and who is “dangerous.”

Pretrial justice is working in Illinois. Crime rates and pretrial jailing have gone down. The amount of people not showing up to court has remained about the same, proving that owing money was never necessary to keep people accountable to court dates.

Pretrial justice is not just about whether a person is released before their trial or not. True community safety requires prevention and rehabilitation. We must love our neighbors, which means providing substance use disorder treatment, behavioral and mental health services, affordable housing, education, and pretrial support.

We may not agree with how a single judge’s decision played out in a particular case, but we must respect the legal process. Like a jury verdict we question or an evidentiary ruling we find troubling, not every outcome aligns with our sense of justice, but those decisions must be left to dedicated professionals who take their work seriously and know the law.

What we should not do is attack a judge or the law they were following. We cannot respond to threats — whether from local officials or the President of the United States — with fear. We must support judges who are doing the difficult work. We must resist efforts to return to a system that criminalized people for being poor.

Rev. Violet Johnicker, executive director of Rockford Urban Ministries

Karen Hill

Rev. Stephen Bowie

Rev. Carolyn Lukasick

David Black

Rev. Marlene Walker