THE ILLINOIZE: Monday Free for All...The SAFE-T Act goes supreme...Reaction to Choate...Shakeup at the ICC
March 13, 2023
Good morning, Illinois.
For anyone with a 15-month old with a sleep schedule that gets blown to smithereens, can we stop the saving/standard time jockeying? Just pick a lane, guys.
Illinois and Northwestern both made the NCAA tournament. Illinois plays Thursday against Arkansas in Des Moines, IA. The Wildkittens play Boise State Thursday evening in Sacramento, CA. Des Moines is only 4:30 from here. The Illinois women’s team is an 11 seed playing a play-in game against Mississippi State. It’s the first time the Illinois women have made the tournament since 2003.
The SAFE-T Act goes before the Supreme Court tomorrow, so we’ll have a preview for you in the newsletter tomorrow. The House is back tomorrow. The Senate is out this week. Governor Pritzker signs a law mandating paid leave for all workers at 1:30.
Let me know what’s on your mind. Drop me a note anytime at patrick@theillinoize.com.
Let’s get to it.
YOUR MONDAY FREE FOR ALL
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Five things to know as the Safe-T Act goes to the Illinois Supreme Court tomorrow (WBEZ)
The future of cash bail in Illinois is in the hands of the state’s Supreme Court.
Illinois passed a law that eliminated the use of cash bail starting on January 1, 2023 as part of the SAFE-T Act. Under the law judges could no longer require people to pay money in order to leave jail while they await trial. Instead, judges could only keep a person behind bars pretrial if they meet criteria that shows they are likely to flee or pose a safety risk.
But prosecutors across the state filed lawsuits challenging the law’s constitutionality. After a lower court judge ruled in their favor, it was placed on hold until the Illinois Supreme Court could make a final decision. Here are five things to know before oral arguments in front of the Illinois Supreme Court on March 14.
The Illinois constitution promises the right to bail to everyone, except people charged with certain offenses.
The state’s attorneys who are trying to overturn portions of the Safe-T act argue that when the constitution says people “shall be bailable by sufficient sureties”— that includes cash bail. So lawmakers can’t get rid of monetary bail without going through the difficult and cumbersome process of changing the constitution first.
It’s hard to imagine this law being found unconstitutional, especially with the partisan makeup of the court. But, we’ll likely get a sense of where the Democrats on the court stand during arguments.
Related: Opinion: Winnebago County State's Attorney SAFE-T Act opposition is dangerous (Rockford Register Star)
Illinois Supreme Court grants expedited appeal in assault weapons ban case (Capitol News Illinois)
Justice Lisa Holder White shares life inspiration during Bloomington speaker series (Bloomington Pantagraph)
Surprise and unanswered questions after state announces changes at Choate (Capitol News Illinois)
Families of patients at Choate Mental Health and Developmental Center, along with workers and community leaders, reacted with concern after the state’s announcement this week that it plans to relocate more than 120 residents from the troubled state-run facility in southern Illinois.
Rita Burke, whose 53-year-old son has lived at Choate for more than 30 years, said Illinois Department of Human Services Secretary Grace Hou and two other senior state officials called her on Saturday evening to inform her of their plans.
Burke said she was shocked because Ryan Croke, a senior official in Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s office who was on the call, had previously given her assurances that Choate would not close, and never suggested that large numbers of residents would be forced to leave, she said.
“We are devastated and so disappointed. It seems to us that DHS and the governor’s office are pushing our loved ones out of their homes of many, many years,” said Burke, who is also president of the Friends of Choate parents association. (Asked about Croke’s prior characterization of the administration’s plans, a spokesperson for the governor’s office reiterated that Choate is “not closing” and said it expects to continue a “productive relationship” with families and guardians during the transition.)
She moved to southern Illinois from Georgia with her husband and other children in 1990 because her son was unable to access adequate adult disability services in their home state. Now, she’s again left wondering about the future of his care.
For people like her son, changes in routine can be extremely disruptive and affect their ability to function, she said. “They can’t be moved like puzzle pieces,” she said. “They’re human beings. I think we need to put the ‘human’ back into the Department of Human Services.”
Burke, a former chair of an IDHS board that reviews internal abuse and neglect investigative reports, said she visits the facility often and maintains that it is safe.
In 2017, a Choate employee punched her son so hard that it broke two of his ribs. But Burke said the fact that the employee was swiftly arrested and charged, and later pleaded guilty to misdemeanor battery, showed that the oversight system worked. The employee was fired and barred from working in a health care setting.
In interviews with reporters in advance of Wednesday’s announcement, Pritzker and Hou stressed that they are not closing Choate, instead billing the change as a “repurposing and restructuring” of the facility that opened in rural Anna near the Missouri border in 1873.
Days before ComEd Four trial to begin, ICC chair related to ex-alderman with ties to case steps down (Chicago Tribune)
Only days before the ComEd Four trial is set to begin, Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s office announced Friday that Illinois Commerce Commission Chair Carrie Zalewski, whose father-in-law is tied to the federal court case, will resign in June from her position overseeing the state’s utilities.
Zalewski’s father-in-law, former 23rd Ward Ald. Mike Zalewski, is expected to figure prominently in the trial, which is set to begin next week, over allegations that payments from Commonwealth Edison were funneled his way. He has not been charged with any wrongdoing.
Carrie Zalewski has abstained on major ComEd issues before the ICC since federal agents raided her father-in-law’s house four years ago. The raid was one of the earliest major moves in the federal investigation centered on then-House Speaker Michael Madigan.
Cayli Baker, an ICC spokesperson, said Carrie Zalewski’s resignation from the $144,000-a-year post before her five-year term is up has nothing to do with the upcoming trial. Baker said Zalewski has not been interviewed by federal authorities and that she has never been a subject in the far-reaching investigation.
This is a little sensationalized as Carrie Zalewski has no role in the ComEd case. By a consensus, Carrie Zalewski has been praised as qualified and competent and steady in her role on the ICC, even though she faced some difficult political posturing in the role. I’m told it has more to do with her husband, former Rep. Mike Zalewski, and his future plans.
Related: Illinois utility rate chief to step down, not spurred by looming ComEd bribery trial, she says (Chicago Sun-Times)
Pritzker shakes up ICC with new chair, two other new appointments (Crain’s Chicago Tribune)
‘ComEd Four’ bribery trial to put focus on ex-Speaker Madigan’s power, state’s blurry line between politics and crime (Chicago Tribune)
Secret recordings of Madigan, allies won’t be released beyond courtroom, judge rules (Chicago Sun-Times)
POLITICAL POTPOURRI
Illinois regulators fine Blue Cross parent $605,000 for alleged violations related to in-network directories (Chicago Tribune)
LaHood says FBI wrongly sought surveillance info about him (Associated Press)
Many in Q-C unfamiliar with their senator (Quad-City Times)
Race, always an issue in Chicago politics, was a key factor behind creating runoff for mayor (Chicago Tribune)
Opinion: Yes, some Vallas donors are conservative, but not MAGA (Crain’s Chicago Business)
Opinion: Illinois has the ugliest flag in the union, let kids change it (Illinois Times)
Opinion: Nuke plants continue to find broad support across ideologies (Shaw Media)
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King, Anderson, McCombie All Pass on 2024 Run for 17th Congressional
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