Hey, Look Ma, They Suddenly Love Pretrial Detention

The SAFE-T Act was great until the accused was someone they did not like

By Michael "Mickey" Scornavacco

A woman is dead after a horrific boating crash. Prosecutors allege the boat operator was extremely intoxicated, traveling at a reckless speed and caused a collision that took an innocent life.

Let me be perfectly clear.

I believe the judge got it right by refusing to release him.

I am not defending the accused. I do not care how much money he has, what kind of boat he owns or who he may support politically. If the allegations are proven, he belongs in prison.

I am also personally grateful that he is no longer on the water while this case moves forward.

Unlike many of the people treating this tragedy like another political argument in a Facebook comment section, my family and I actually use the Chain. We own a boat. My friends are out there. People I know and love travel those same waterways every weekend.

Any one of us could have been the victim.

That makes this real for me. This was not some distant story involving strangers in another state. It happened on the water my family, friends and community regularly use.

That is another reason I believe the judge made the correct decision by keeping him detained.

What interests me is the sudden change in attitude from people who have spent years defending Illinois criminal justice reform.

For years, supporters of the SAFE-T Act told us that accused criminals should not be jailed before trial simply because people were angry. We heard about fairness, compassion, equity, second chances and the presumption of innocence.

Then this defendant arrived.

He has been described in comments as wealthy, white, privileged, a boat owner and a possible MAGA supporter.

Suddenly, the same crowd that normally warns against pretrial detention is demanding that the jail door remain locked.

"Do not release him."

"Hold him without bail."

"Keep him locked up."

Hey, look Ma. They suddenly discovered public safety.

Again, I believe the judge got it right. He should not have been released.

The hypocrisy is not that the current law prevents detention. It does not. Judges can still hold defendants when prosecutors establish that release would create a serious danger.

The hypocrisy is how quickly some people change their principles depending on the identity of the accused.

When the defendant fits a group they sympathize with, we hear about compassion and due process.

When the defendant is someone they associate with money, boats, Republicans or MAGA, suddenly prior conduct matters. Public safety matters. The seriousness of the allegations matters.

Apparently, the rules change depending on who owns the boat.

A woman lost her life. Another person was seriously injured. A family has been permanently changed.

The judge got it right. The accused should remain off the water and in custody while the case proceeds.

But it is still fair to ask whether the people demanding detention today would be saying the same thing if the accused belonged to a political group they supported.

Would they still want him held?

Would they still focus on his history?

Would they still talk about protecting the public?

Or would they be lecturing everyone about compassion, inequality and the presumption of innocence?

That is the selective outrage I am talking about.

Justice should not depend on race, income, politics or social status.

A wealthy defendant should not receive special treatment because he has money or connections.

He also should not receive harsher treatment because people dislike his politics, lifestyle or the kind of boat he owns.

Dangerousness should be determined by the evidence.

In this case, I believe the judge reviewed the allegations and made the correct decision by ordering detention.

The victim deserves justice. The accused deserves due process. The public deserves protection.

All three can be true at the same time.

The SAFE-T Act did not suddenly change.

The defendant did.

And apparently, for some people, that changed everything.