Lake County Gazette

Illinois’ lawmakers’ legislation reforming criminal justice is about “politics and not about protection,” Rep. Martin McLaughlin (R-Barrington Hills) said in January, in objection to the measure.

“I think this bill has been purely put forth as a form of political protection,” McLaughlin told the Lake County Gazette. He made his comments before being sworn into General Assembly. 

McLaughlin is one of a growing number of Republican lawmakers concerned about the criminal justice reform bill approved in both chambers. 

The legislation’s reforms included ending cash bails and requiring officers to wear body cameras. The final version also removed the clause that allowed the state to deny funds to municipalities that don’t comply with body camera regulations.

With support coming from the Legislative Black Caucus, the reform legislation still needs the signature of Gov. J.B. Pritzker.

“Some of the provisions are a bit misguiding and not well thought out,” McLaughlin said, adding that some aspects may put “departments and the public at much greater risk.

Beyond that, McLaughlin argues that the timing and approach to passing the bill on Jan. 13 are wrong.

“It’s too big of an issue to be trying to ram through as quickly as through a lame-duck session,” he said. “The idea of trying to do any of this so quickly is really problematic, as is the trying to craft stuff behind closed doors to address all of this.”

Lawmakers pushed forward with the reform legislation following the multiple deaths of Black Americans by police officers recently, including the high-profile incidents of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer and Breonna Taylor, who was shot by police in her Louisville, Kentucky home.