Federal authorities have intervened to detain a 50-year-old man accused of setting a woman on fire on a Chicago train, arguing in court filings that the state’s judicial system failed to contain a violent offender who had been released pending trial under Illinois’ cashless bail laws.
Lawrence Reed is now facing federal charges of terrorism against a mass transportation system following the November 17 attack on the CTA Blue Line. Prosecutors allege Reed doused a female passenger in gasoline and ignited it, leaving her hospitalized with severe burns.
The incident has reignited scrutiny of the Illinois Safety, Accountability, Fairness and Equity-Today (SAFE-T) Act, signed by Governor J.B. Pritzker in 2021. The law made Illinois the first state to abolish cash bail, emphasizing pretrial release conditions like electronic monitoring over monetary bonds…