(The Center Square) – Loyola University of Chicago Center for Criminal Justice Professor David Olson said he’s not surprised that after a year of being on the books the Pretrial Fairness Act leading to the elimination of the cash bail system hasn’t come close to leading to the rise in crime many critics feared it would.
“We did research before the law went into effect and found out that most of the people that were eligible for detention were being released pre-trial,” Olson told The Center Square. “Before the law, they were posting money to be released and after the law, they’re not being required to. The overall number of people locked up hasn’t changed that much, and if the number of people locked up hasn’t changed that much we wouldn’t expect crime to really change that much.”
Since the bill officially became law of the land, authorities report both violent and property crimes across the state are down. In further arguing that the law has had its intended effect, Olson points out that detention court hearings are now noticeably longer with judges making use of the added time by more thoroughly explaining the decisions that are leading to less jail time.