Democratic Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s cashless bail law enabled a man with more than 70 arrests to roam the streets before allegedly burning a woman alive in Chicago.
Local judges gave pretrial release to 50-year-old Lawrence Reed after an August assault charge under Pritzker’s Safety, Accountability, Fairness and Equity-Today (SAFE-T) Act, according to multiple reports. Reed is now charged federally with terrorism against a mass transportation system for allegedly dousing a woman in gasoline and setting her on fire on Chicago’s Blue Line train on Nov. 17, hospitalizing her.
Pritzker’s office referred the Daily Caller News Foundation to his Friday comments. Reed chose not to have a lawyer in his federal case and could not be reached.
The SAFE-T Act, which Priztker signed in 2021 and later amended, made Illinois the first state to abolish cash bail while expanding pretrial release conditions such as “electronic monitoring.” Against local prosecutors’ advice, Cook County Judge Teresa Molina-Gonzalez ordered Reed’s release on electronic monitoring in August after he was charged with slapping a social worker’s face so hard that it gave her a concussion, corneal abrasion and chipped tooth, CWB Chicago reported.
“I can’t keep everybody in jail because the State’s Attorney wants me to,” Molina-Gonzalez, who was endorsed by her county’s Democratic Party, reportedly told prosecutors.
Pritzker indicated Friday that he was open to changing the SAFE-T Act when asked about Reed’s case. “Sometimes bills get passed and everybody that votes for it knows that there needs to be a trailer bill or a tweak that needs to be made afterward, so I think everybody is open to listening to what changes might need to be made,” he told the press, according to The Center Square.
Reed violated his pretrial release numerous times in the assault case before the Nov. 17 fire attack, according to NBC 5 Chicago. Another judge later scrapped the electronic monitoring, requiring that Reed merely follow a curfew, the Department of Justice (DOJ) said in a Thursday court motion arguing for federal detention.
The motion excoriated Illinois leadership for letting Reed walk, noting that he was arrested 72 times and convicted of eight felonies over the past 30 years. He even received a probation sentence for a 2020 arson attack on a Chicago building, the DOJ said.
“Defendant has been leniently treated in state court, including receiving probationary sentences for violent offenses and pre-trial release for a victim-involved crime,” the motion said. “In exchange for such lenient treatment, defendant has consistently re-offended and delved further into criminality.”
“The state court system has been unable to contain defendant’s violent crimes, and federal intervention is now needed,” the DOJ wrote. U.S. Magistrate Judge Laura McNally ordered Reed’s pretrial detention Friday.
In a December 2022 press release, Pritzker touted the SAFE-T Act as a solution to “a system where wealthy violent offenders can buy their way out of jail, while less fortunate nonviolent offenders wait in jail for trial.” The press release included endorsements from several Democratic legislators.
“Advocates and lawmakers came together and put in hours of work to strengthen and clarify this law, uphold our commitment to
equity, and keep people safe,” Pritzker said.
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