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ILLINOIS ON EDGE

July 15, 2025•4 min read

SAFE-T Act Sparks Outrage as New Cases Expose Deadly Gaps in Justice System

CHICAGO, July 2025 — A law once hailed as “historic reform” is now under fire as Illinois faces mounting criticism over the SAFE-T Act.

The law, signed by Governor J.B. Pritzker and driven through by a Democratic supermajority, was meant to overhaul the state’s criminal justice system.

Instead, recent high-profile cases have pushed it back into the headlines, raising urgent questions about whether the price of reform is being paid in lives.

The elimination of cash bail, the centerpiece of the SAFE-T Act, was designed to bring fairness and equity to pretrial detention.

Instead, critics say it has created chaos, emboldened repeat offenders, and left judges and police scrambling to protect the public under a system that often won’t let them.

NEW TRAGEDIES KEEP THE SAFE-T ACT IN THE SPOTLIGHT

Illinois is still talking about the SAFE-T Act in 2025 for one reason: the tragedies haven’t stopped.

The Megan Bos case: The 37-year-old was brutally killed, her body hidden in a bleach-filled container. The man accused of the crime, Jose Luis Mendoza-Gonzalez, an undocumented immigrant, was released under the SAFE-T Act less than 48 hours after his arrest. Only federal ICE agents captured him later. Antioch Mayor Scott Gartner said plainly: “This is a monster walking free under the law.”
Homer Glen tragedy: A couple accused of killing and neglecting their two-year-old daughter were granted pretrial release despite what investigators called “deplorable” living conditions. State Rep. Patrick Sheehan, a 19-year law enforcement veteran, issued a stark warning: “We really feel like we’re powerless out there, and our courts have become a revolving door. Who’s paying the price? The victims are paying the price.”

These cases are more than isolated failures—they are symptoms of a system critics say is fundamentally broken.

JUDGES UNDER FIRE: HANDCUFFED OR RADICALIZED

Opponents argue the SAFE-T Act has left judges with no discretion to detain dangerous suspects.

Others warn of a more disturbing trend: radical judges using the law to release offenders even when public safety is clearly at risk.

“To take that discretion out of their hands with a blanket act checking a few boxes doesn’t make sense,” Mayor Gartner said.

Critics say the law has created a two-tiered crisis:

judges bound by restrictive rules.
and others embracing activist interpretations that prioritize ideology over safety.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: “A COMPLETE DISASTER THAT MUST BE ENDED IMMEDIATELY”

President Donald Trump addressed the issue this week, calling out cashless bail policies nationwide and directly connecting them to rising violent crime.

“Crime in American cities started to significantly rise when they went to CASHLESS BAIL. The WORST criminals are flooding our streets and endangering even our great law enforcement officers. It is a complete disaster, and must be ended, IMMEDIATELY!”

Trump posted on Truth Social.

The President’s warning came after a DHS briefing on a previously deported repeat offender who shot an off-duty CBP officer in New York City.

DHS Secretary Kristi Noem called the suspect’s record a “rap sheet a mile long” and said similar bail reforms are putting both officers and civilians in danger.

PRITZKER’S POLITICAL GAMBLE: CHOOSING PRIDE OVER PUBLIC SAFETY

Despite the rising death toll and widespread backlash, Governor Pritzker has refused to make any changes to the SAFE-T Act.

According to statehouse insiders and critics alike, the reason is as much political as it is policy: admitting the law has failed would mean admitting President Trump was right.

That refusal, opponents argue, is devastating for Illinois.

The Governor is choosing to protect his party’s narrative and his own image instead of protecting families across the state.

Every day the law stays unchanged, Illinoisans are paying the price for Pritzker’s political pride.

They see victims’ families begging for change.
They hear law enforcement sounding alarms.
Yet the Governor refuses to act, prioritizing partisan optics over public safety.

Critics call it one of the worst decisions of his tenure.

“By refusing to even consider reform because it would prove Trump right, Governor Pritzker has put politics above people.

That is a failure of leadership at the highest level,” said one lawmaker during a tense committee meeting.