SAFE-T Act Spot Story

   The first humanities class of my senior year is Journalism. For Unit 1 my classmates and I each picked an issue relevant to our communities to write a spot story about. The goal of a spot story is to give a concise introduction to a story using information and interviews with locals. We also aimed to meet the five core values of journalism, which are accuracy, independence, impartiality, humanity, and accountability. I tried to portray the facts of this story as truthfully as possible and have worked to report the opinions of my interviewees faithfully.

Crime Advertising Hits Chicago Hard, but What Does it Actually Mean?

    “We are used to money being used to hold people hostage while awaiting trial.” said Caren Tarvin, a non profit employee, mother, and resident of North Park on Chicago’s northwest side. Many people across the state of Illinois agree with Tarvin, but the law passed in January 2021 is far from noncontroversial. Every political and public figure in the state of Illinois has an opinion on the SAFE-T (Safety, Accountability, Fairness and Equity-Today) Act, and a lot of them are trying to make sure that voters in the November election agree. 

    Republican gubernatorial candidate Darren Bailey is hammering the issue hard. In this election, Bailey is trying to present himself as a no-brainer candidate for everyday people, and emphasizing crime rates and victims rights are one of his campaign's main strategies for picking up those still skeptical. His campaign, along with external figures such as the “People Who Play By The Rules PAC” (which is funded by Illinois billionaire Richard Uihlein), has been flooding Chicagoland televisions with ads about violent crime in the city, and the ways they believe JB Pritzker is both allowing and furthering it. Tarvin described the ads as “saying JB is releasing criminals and we're all gonna die … Just fear mongering” but noted she had seen no ads from Democrats responding to claims from the right. Crime is a hot button issue in Chicago, with 29.2% of voters saying it was the city's biggest issue in 2019. 

    Depending on who is asked, the SAFE-T Act could be a harbinger of criminals running wild on the streets with no consequences, or what finally equalizes Illinois courts. What’s written in the law is that on January 1, 2023, Illinois will become the first state to end cash bail. This won’t, however, mean that people can just leave after being arrested. First, a judge will determine if the suspect "poses a specific, real and present threat to any person or the community”. If they do, they remain behind bars while awaiting trial. If it’s determined the suspect is not a danger to anyone, the judge additionally determines if the suspect is a flight risk, meaning if they are thought of as in danger of not showing up in court when they’re set to. One of the main issues many activists see in bail laws as is, are the ways they can interrupt the lives of people who are arrested before they are proven guilty. After fears about violent crime from those awaiting trial, many people against the SAFE-T act are worried about suspects appearing in court. However, DePaul sociologist Traci Schelsinger noted in The Appeal, “What we’re finding is that when people aren’t making it to court for their first appointment, most likely they’ll come to their second appointment—and nearly everyone makes it by the third”. Often, missed court appearances are due to things like difficulty finding childcare. Sydney Sizemore, a teen from Rogers Park noted “People have to go to work and take care of their kids, and if they're not in danger of stabbing people we should let them do that”

    Cynthia Wheeler, a graphic designer and Lincoln Park resident says she had a completely incorrect understanding of what getting rid of cash bail would actually do before she started reading up on it herself. “I have the TV on while I work, so it’s easy for me to hear the ads and absorb it before I realize what the advertiser’s political message is.” Voters like Cynthia and Caren, white people from neighborhoods with higher average incomes than the many other areas of Chicago can prove pivotal for a Republican candidate seeking statewide office like Bailey. The last Republican to win Illinois governor was Bruce Rauner in 2014, who did so by winning every county except Cook, including the pivotal collar counties of DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry, and Will that surround Chicago. The Republican party is hoping that their messaging on crime will be enough to flip these swing voters, and only time will tell if the strategy pays off.