Lake County Gazette

Illinois’ recently approved criminal justice reform legislation received high-profile backing from the governor and the Lake County State’s Attorney as the state attempts to reshape policing and forge greater trust.

With a 60-50 vote on Jan. 13, the criminal justice reform bill passed the Illinois House of Representatives. The Senate voted 32-23 in favor of the legislation.

Lake County State’s Attorney Eric Rinehart said the legislation will make the county safer, while Gov. J.B. Pritzker called the passage “good governance.”

The reforms change the use of force guidelines, strips collective bargaining rights regarding discipline from police unions, and requires that every police department in Illinois has body cameras. The legislation also ends cash bail.

“The criminal justice reform bill that was passed [on Jan. 13] in Springfield will make all communities in Lake County safer,” Rinehart said, the Lake and McHenry County Scanner reported. “I am proud to say I support the bill and that I was able to suggest improvements to the original version of the bill. It will prevent the gross disparity we see between holding a non-violent offender on a small bail while Kyle Rittenhouse is released in Wisconsin because supporters posted millions.”

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

The deaths sparked large-scale protests nationwide and, at times, were violent and led to clashes with police officers dressed in riot gear.

“I have long held that an essential mark of good governance is a willingness to change the laws that have failed the people of Illinois,” Pritzker said, the Lake and McHenry County Scanner reported. “This criminal justice package carries with it the opportunity to shape our state into a lesson in true justice for the nation by abolishing cash bail, modernizing sentencing laws, instituting a certification and decertification system for police officers statewide, requiring body cameras, reforming crowd control response, and amplifying law enforcement training standards.”

State Republicans, however, have been highly critical of the legislation. Rep. Andrew Chesney (R-Freeport) said time would show that the Legislature errored with these reforms.

“We are not on the right side of history,” Chesney said, the Lake and McHenry County Scanner reported. “You want to pass a flawed bill that is not supported by labor, it is not supported by the sheriff’s association, it is not supported by the police chiefs. Everybody that we task to keep us safe say this makes you less safe.”