The passage of the Safe-T act, or HB3653, represents historic legislation in Illinois law. In addition to making Illinois the second state to completely abolish monetary bail except in specific circumstances, the bill makes sweeping changes to police accountability, felony murder law, law enforcement misconduct law, sentencing, and the department of corrections.
A full treatment of the changes in the 764-page document would be too long for a single post, but in the coming weeks, we will review each facet of the comprehensive law. This article serves to introduce in a cursory manner key changes which are contained in the legislation.
For proponents of the law, inequities in the criminal justice system and issues with law enforcement impunity and misconduct have been frequently covered topics in the news lately and the Safe-T Act is largely a response from state legislators to these wide-ranging social concerns. The proponents of HB3653 profess that the legislation is undoubtedly progressive and forward-thinking and that puts Illinois at the forefront of addressing social justice issues.
Changes to the Criminal Code
The Safe-T act makes changes to the criminal code that attempts to promote equity in the criminal justice system. In addition to adding a criminal liability for law enforcement misconduct, HB3653 amends the felony murder wording to remove the situation where a defendant can be charged with the death of a codefendant when they are committing a crime together. Laws governing failure to comply with electronic home monitoring systems have also been amended to require persons with a violation to maintain the violation for 48 hours in order to trigger legal punishment. Citizens can also no longer be charged with resisting arrest unless there is an underlying offense for which they are originally subject to arrest.
Those supporters of the law state that overall, these changes will tend to make the Illinois criminal code less harsh and will open the path to justice for ordinary citizens.
Changes to Sentencing
HB3653 also makes changes to the sentencing laws that make important changes to the law governing habitual criminal status, mandatory X sentencing, mandatory minimum sentencing, home detention, mandatory supervised release, the Veteran’s Court Treatment Act (VCT), and the Mental Health Treatment Act (MHT). The specific changes are beyond the purview of this article but include such things as clarifying language as to which felonies create habitual criminal designations, changing felonies to forcible felonies in order to trigger Mandatory X sentencing, removing requirements that offenses be probation eligible in order to quality for VCT and MHT programs.
Contact an Experienced Lawyer Today
Glasgow & Olsson is uniquely qualified to help navigate broad changes to HB 3653. Recent changes to Illinois law likely affect your rights and trial process, so make sure to remain informed and updated. Make sure to acquire legal assistance the whole way through. When you need an attorney, experience matters. Contact us today to learn how our experience can get you the results you deserve.