Southern Illinois News

State Sen. Terri Bryant (R-Murphysboro) is focused on repealing the SAFE-T Act, the criminal justice reform legislation passed into law last year.

“Last January, the Democrats pushed through sweeping changes to our criminal justice system,” Bryant said at a recent news conference. “They pushed through those changes in the middle of the night without public or law enforcement input and a year later we can safely say that their approach has failed.”

Bryant argues Democrats’ “my-way-or-the-highway” approach to pushing the bill through has caused needlessly many to suffer. She blames the state's rising crime rate on the legislation.

In addition, vacancy rates at local police departments are up by 20 percent.

“As I've listened to my colleagues here talking, I just want to remind all of you that in the region where I live just a few months ago, Deputy Sheriff Sean Riley from the Wayne County Sheriff's Department was shot to death when he stopped for what he thought was a distressed motorist,” Bryant said. “He was shot and his body was thrown into a ditch. That’s just a few miles away from where my daughter and my grandchildren live, and where my son-in-law served as a deputy sheriff for Jefferson County for several years. I don't know if my son-in-law would ever go back to law enforcement. And that's because of the way we treat our law enforcement officers.”

State Rep. Deanne Mazzochi (R-Westmont) is also supporting repeal efforts, adding many of her worst fears have quickly come into focus since the law took effect.

“We warned you that this would make crime even worse,” she said. “Welcome to reality.”