Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Chicago Police Supt. David Brown have made unfounded claims that people on house arrest with electronic monitoring present a danger to our city. Though debunked by advocates and media, the widespread airing of this myth has misdirected the conversation surrounding pretrial release — so much so that Springfield legislators are considering bills that would further penalize people on electronic monitoring.
One proposed bill would create a new felony charge for knowingly removing, tampering with or interfering with the signal of an electronic monitor. Another would prevent people facing certain charges involving allegations of violence from being eligible for release on monitoring. These unnecessary and even unconstitutional proposals threaten the progress Illinois has made since last year’s signing of the Pretrial Fairness Act, which put the state at the national forefront of pretrial reform. They also put the rights of thousands of legally innocent people at risk.
