Metro East Sun

Greenville attorney Tom DeVore, the 2022 GOP candidate for state attorney general, is celebrating the Illinois Supreme Court’s temporary stay of the SAFE-T Act which was set to take effect on Jan. 1. 

DeVore, an opponent to the SAFE-T Act, shared the news on Facebook.

“BREAKING: The Illinois Supreme Court has temporarily blocked the Pritzker No-Bond SAFE-T Act from going into effect tomorrow. This applies STATEWIDE!!!” DeVore said. 

Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul is appealing the court's ruling overturning the SAFE-T Act. 

 “As we have stated previously, my office filed an appeal with the Illinois Supreme Court because in this matter, only the Supreme Court’s final decision on the merits will be binding on all Illinois courts,” he said in a press release. “It is important to note that the order issued today by the court is not a decision on the merits of the constitutionality of the SAFE-T Act, and I appreciate the court’s interest in expediting the appeal. We look forward to mounting a robust defense of the constitutionality of the law and ensuring that it goes into effect across the state.”

The Illinois State Supreme Court ruled on Dec. 31 - the day before the sweeping criminal justice reform was set to take effect - the law’s implementation should be delayed given rulings in lowers courts, according to CBS Chicago. 

Raoul may be counting on the court’s partisan divide. Democrats Elizabeth Rochford and Mary Kay O’Brien won seats on the court in 2022, tipping the court’s balance of power to a 5-2 split favoring Democrats.

DeVore previously criticized Raoul for disinformation over the ruling. “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,’" DeVore said in a press release, Metro East Sun earlier reported. “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.” 

DeVore added that “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.”