Fayette County State's Attorney Files Suit Against SAFE-T Act

Fayette County State’s Attorney Joshua Morrison joined the list of State’s Attorneys who have sued Governor Pritzker over the SAFE-T Act.

“After much consideration, I am filing a lawsuit against the SAFE-T Act. As a prosecutor, I believe that this statute unconstitutional on its face and will have far-reaching unintended consequences,” Morrison said. A large part of the justice system is balancing the rights of the accused, crime victims, and the community. The Illinois Constitution says that crime victims have the right to reasonable protection throughout the justice process. This statute limits those rights to identifiable threats in the present. This statute does not balance the rights of all the participants in the justice process and puts the rights of accused ahead of the rights of the victims. We have seen time and time again that well-meaning reform has unintended consequences. The SAFE-T Act was passed in the dead of night without concern for what those consequences might be."

Morrison added, "Since 2016, when a law was passed decriminalizing small amounts of marijuana and drug paraphernalia and then later, when the law changed to require probation for many drug cases, we have seen crime increase in our community. In fact, comparing 2015 and 2021, this office has seen a 74% increase in felony cases filed, while our misdemeanor cases decreased. While we cannot definitively pinpoint the cause of this increase because the vast majority of our cases are drug cases, it appears that the watering down of drug laws is having a detrimental effect on our community, even though the laws were well intentioned. We cannot begin to fathom the effects of such a far-reaching law as the SAFE-T Act. Besides Constitutional issues, this statute opens a myriad of questions and operational issues. The Supreme Court’s own Pretrial Implementation Task Force cites numerous interpretation and operational questions that have not yet been answered. The statute puts the State’s Attorney’s Office and law enforcement in the position of having to make determinations and take actions that they do not have time to consider, and places unreasonable burdens on the taxpayers."

Morrison also said there are concerns regarding the costs this legislation will generate. "In a strict reading, this statute will even require court to be held on the weekends, resulting in a huge strain on already scarce resources. No matter what the outcome of this case, the Fayette County State’s Attorney’s Office will continue to serve the people of Fayette County within the law. As we continue this litigation, we will keep the people of Fayette County apprised of actions that we take."

More than 50 state's attorneys in Illinois have now filed suit against the SAFE-T Act.