Carbondale Reporter

Illinois State Rep. Patrick Windhorst (R-Metroplis) applauded a Kankakee County judge's ruling that found eliminating cash bail under the SAFE-T Act was unconstitutional.

In a video posted Dec. 29 on YouTube, Windhorst said the court's decision validated many of the arguments those who are opposed to the law have been vocal about. 

"The court and its ruling made clear the ability of a court to set monetary bail is inherent in the judicial power of the courts and provided by the state constitution. That is something many of you here have heard us discuss over the last two years," Windhorst, who serves on the Restorative Justice and Judiciary - Criminal committees, said in the video. "In order for that inherent power of the court to be amended or taken away, it must be done through the proper process, which is amending the constitution rather than legislation."

In a late-afternoon decision on New Year's Eve, the Illinois Supreme Court suspended the Pretrial Fairness Act, the provision of the SAFE-T Act that would have eliminated cash bail, from taking effect until further notice, NBC Chicago reported. The move came just days after the Kankakee County judge's ruling.

CBS 2 legal analyst Irv Miller believed the state Supreme Court acted to prevent "chaos" from happening when the calendar year changed to 2023. 

"So I think they were sitting around today thinking, 'How are we going to remedy this catastrophe?' And I'm going to use the word catastrophe if this went ahead," Miller told CBS 2.