The anti-SAFE-T Act movement now has its own website — stopthesafe-tact.com — a group that included Vermilion County State’s Attorney Jacqueline Lacy and GOP gubernatorial candidate Darren Bailey announced at a news conference this week.
Lacy, who filed a lawsuit contending the comprehensive criminal justice legislation that will eliminate cash bail starting next year is unconstitutional, was among the featured speakers at the event.
She called the bill “a nightmare,” spoke of the “gang criminals that travel from Cook County to Danville” to wreak havoc on the city and laid out one case from last week that might be handled differently come Jan. 1, when cash bail goes away statewide.
“Yesterday, we had a case where we charged an individual with aggravated discharge of a firearm,” she said. “He was shooting as a pedestrian at a moving vehicle. We have no idea who was in the moving vehicle. It was probably late evening hours but … we were able to identify the perpetrator from (a doorbell camera) because law enforcement had prior contact with the individual. They knew who he was; he was identifiable.
“He was brought into custody. We were able to provide the court with a factual basis. Ag discharge of a firearm is a Class 1 felony in Illinois and we were able to get a significant bond and hold that individual in custody and protect our citizens, our innocent citizens, who are trying to live their everyday life.
“Under this bill, as of January 2023, I won’t be able to identify who the individual person is that that individual was intending to hurt, so therefore this person would walk free.”
Elsewhere in Vermilion County:
— BISMARCK: Another summer of the Vermilion County village’s Keep Bismarck Beautiful campaign is in the books, with eight more property owners being honored for good-looking yards: Steve and Sherri Edwards (24 Prairie Dr.), Susan Freelund (212 Chicago Ave.), Mary Griffis (108-B Illinois St.), Amy Jackson (6 South St.), Darrell and Alice Jacobs (319 Chicago Ave.), Jack and Bonnie Luttrell (19 Franklin St.), Jimmy and Cheryl Vincent (105 E. Holloway St.) and Kent and Debbie Westahl (12 Illinois St.).
— DANVILLE: Interest in the Ward 1 city council seat vacated by Brenda Brown is high, Mayor Rickey Williams Jr. says, with six or seven resumes submitted. Williams plans to recommend a new council member next week.
— GEORGETOWN: Council members signed off on a bid from Sidell‘s McDowell Builders to finish the metal siding on the north and west sides of the City Hall.