Mayor in Agreement with State’s Attorney on Safe-T Act Issues
It was earlier this week (Tuesday, March 14th) that Vermilion County State’s Attorney Jacqueline Lacy participated in State Supreme Court testimony, as one of many state’s attorneys who had filed suit attempting to halt the portion of the Safe-T Act that would end cash bail in Illinois. That change was supposed to take place on New Year’s Day, but a stay was put on it until the Supreme Court makes a final decision. Lacy says, she cannot comment directly on the litigation, but she hopes the right decision is made based upon the information provided.
AUDIO: The role of the Illinois Supreme Court is to listen to both sides, and that’s what happened at oral arguments on Tuesday. And we expect a decision from the Supreme Court, hopefully within the next several months.
Also this week, during the mayoral forum (Monday, March 13th) at the DACC Bremer Center, Danville mayor Rickey Williams, Jr stated at the end of a question about the police department, “Now we need help from the state’s attorney.” The next day, Mayor Williams told Neuhoff Media that more dangerous criminals need to be charged, and more dangerous criminals need to be convicted.
AUDIO: There are so many instances I could tell you of folks who should be charged. They cannot ever be convicted if they aren’t charged. So, what that means is, our police could arrest every bad person on the streets; if they are not charged appropriately and they are not prosecuted, it matters not.
State’s Attorney Lacy says there are 45-hundred pending cases in her office, including 21 murder cases. And her office needs to make the right decisions.
AUDIO: The role of the state’s attorney is not merely to seek convictions. The role of the state’s attorney is to seek justice. And our ethical obligations require us to charge cases when we believe that we can prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt in the courtroom.
Mayor Williams also said, the county seems to be getting lots of help from the state.
AUDIO: I don’t know if anyone has noticed the number of cases that our attorney general Kwame Raoul has had to come and prosecute in our community. But if he weren’t here helping us, we’d have even more violent criminals out on the streets.
State’s Attorney Lacy, however, says Raoul comes when she asks him to. And there’s a program that allows for any state’s attorney in Illinois to do so.
AUDIO: Their Trial Assistance Division helps every county throughout the entire state of Illinois, and our tax dollars already pay for that assistance. And so that’s something that I request them to come down and assist us with. Kwame Raoul and the attorney general’s office do not make that decision. That’s an actual request I make as state’s attorney.
Lacy says the Trial Assistance Division is there for when a county has a high volume of pending murder cases, in order to ensure that victims are taken care of.
