SE Illinois News

Rep. Patrick Windhorst (R-Harrisburg) said that Senate Bill 2364, a criminal justice reform measure, will not do anything remotely close to what its sponsors claim it will do.

"This is deja vu. A criminal justice bill at 4 a.m. with no law enforcement involvement and no public input," Windhorst said from the House floor on April 9. "If you look at this bill it's not going to do what it claims it will do. First, a supposed to fix the Class B and C misdemeanor problem is no fix at all. There's basically no change in the law."

Senate Bill 2364, which is follow-up legislation to last year's SAFE-T Act, passed along party lines with a 64-45 vote in the House on April 9. "There is no change, absolutely no change, to the detainable offenses in the original SAFE-T Act," Windhorst said, 25 News reported. "Serious violent felons will be released 48 hours after arrest."

The bill is sponsored by Sen. Don Harmon (D-Oak Park) in the Senate and Rep. Justin Slaughter (D-Chicago) in the House. Meanwhile, according to the reports by 25 News, Slaughter has said that Democrats are fed up with what he calls the politicizing of the SAFE-T Act. "We can smell it. It's a bad stench of racism coming from that side of the aisle," Slaughter said.

Senate Bill 2364 makes changes to the state's Criminal Justice Information Act. “The new SAFE-T Act has made Illinois a less safe place to live for just about everyone,” Rep. Avery Bourne (R-Litchfield) said, according to the Daily Journal. “Something needs to be done to address violent crime in Illinois, but it is clear rushing legislation through the General Assembly was not the right solution.”