"The money bond system wrongly tied access to financial resources to pretrial freedom. The result has been countless individuals – mostly from Black and Brown communities – spending days, weeks, months, years in jail just for being poor," said Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle.
"This bill, this law was worked on in conjunction with advocates – victims' rights advocates, domestic violence advocates, those who have been impacted by this system – who have seen people who have been able to pay their way out of jail and cause harm. This effort to detain those who hold a real threat to our public rather than detain those who are simply poor is the right thing to do," said Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx, who has been a vocal supporter of ending cash bail.