Chicago-Kent Law Professor Harold Krent Explains How Things Will Change Now That Illinois Has Ended Cash Bail
“In each case, the prosecutor needs to persuade the judge that, based on the type of crime alleged, the surrounding circumstances, history of violence or flight, or collateral evidence of vengeance that continued incarceration is appropriate,” according to Harold J. Krent, a professor at Chicago-Kent College of Law. “For a murder that was gang related, the prosecutor can argue that the tensions between the gangs may place the arrestee in a situation (if released) in which violence is likely. ... Or, for someone arrested for felony possession of narcotics, the prosecutor may have no reason to predict violence upon release if there was no prior whiff of violence.”