Metro East Sun

Greenville attorney Tom DeVore, the 2022 GOP candidate for Attorney General, is criticizing Attorney General Kwame Raoul. DeVore lost to Raoul in the Nov. 8 election but is keeping tabs on his former opponent’s actions in office. 

“I was pleased to review the Court's order wherein the Kankakee County Circuit Judge found the ‘no cash bail’ provisions of the SAFE-T Act unconstitutional,” DeVore said in a press release. “

The Court's reasoning was exactly as I, along with my other colleagues, have argued for the last several months.” 

“In a recent statement by Attorney General Kwame Raoul, he proclaimed the following: 
‘the right of individuals awaiting criminal trials - people who have not been convicted of a crime and are presumed innocent - to seek release from jail without having to pay cash bail will go into effect in a few short days, despite the court's ruling against those provisions,’ Raoul said.” 

“This statement is blatant misinformation. Once again Attorney General Raoul is outright lying to the people of the State of Illinois, or in the alternative, he really has no understanding of the law.” 

“In the Court's ruling, the judge entered a final ruling on the merits holding the ‘no cash bail’ provisions of the SAFE-T Act unconstitutional. This ruling has the legal effect of rendering the 'no cash bail’ provisions unlawful statewide. As of today, it is as if these provisions do not exist. 

“Sadly, Mr. Raoul, in his continued efforts to continue pandering to Governor Pritzker, is making reckless statements such as this.” 

“As a result of the Court's ruling, unless and until the Illinois Supreme Court might overturn it, the ‘no cash bail components of the SAFE-T Act are eliminated and of no force and effect. This final ruling is applicable in all 102 counties. Any suggestion by Attorney General Kwame Raoul to the contrary is tantamount to legal incompetence.” 

“I would like to congratulate and thank my colleagues, especially States Attorney Jim Rowe for a job well done in defending the rights of the people of the State of Illinois.”

DeVore: ‘Once again Attorney General Raoul is outright lying to the people of the State of Illinois’

DeVore made a name for himself earlier this year when he led the push to overturn forced masking in schools and throughout the state. He served as the class action lawsuit's legal representative and helped end the requirement for masking in schools. Only a few states at the time, including Illinois, participated in the practice. At the time, DeVore asserted that Raoul ought to be the one defending children's rights by getting the school to halt the practice for good.

Early on in the Covid pandemic, DeVore helped small businesses stay open by serving as their attorney. 2,400 small businesses declared early in the pandemic that they would not be reopening because Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s policies forced them to go out of business, in some cases for more than a year and a half. 

DeVore represented Spiro Roumpas, the operator of Ki’s Steak and Seafood Restaurant, in the case. 

“I walk into Menards and there are 500 people buying tools or whatnot and they are saying that is OK?” Roumpas told DuPage Policy Journal at the time. “Government is crippling us. J.B. sits on a throne and dictates. Let people decide what they want to do.” 

In recent weeks, DeVore has turned his attention to a sweeping gun ban that will be up for a vote in early January. 

The so-called Protect Illinois Communities Act - HB5855 - would outlaw over 100 types of firearms currently legal in the state as well as extended clip magazines. 

DeVore has offered his services to citizens seeking to reinforce Second Amendment rights locally after Iroquois County passed a resolution announcing its jurisdiction will not enforce the legislation should it become law. It is one of 68 sanctuary states in which gun owners' rights have been underscored at the county level.