Hacker News Reader

It's wild that it took this long to implement.

A lot of the opposition came from the previous Chicago mayor who publicly believed that people accused of crimes are guilty. She used to be a prosecutor.

https://blockclubchicago.org/2022/06/07/lightfoot-says-peopl...

View on HN

What is the conviction rate in Illinois? In California it's 72%. From what I have read. it sounds like there can be a lot of variability in this number depending on how you count conviction. Still, while many accused people are not guilty of crimes, at least in California, Florida (59%), Texas (82%), and at the federal level (93%), most people are?

Sorry but, what do conviction rates have anything to do with this?

It has to do with bail being viewed as "letting criminals go free". If there is a high conviction rate, then most of the people being arrested are eventually found guilty, and I would expect bail being viewed less favorably there. On the other hand, if conviction rates were low, it would mean the police were arresting a lot of people that did not break the law, and I would expect bail to be viewed more positively.

"Is found guilty" != "is guilty".

Reply on news.ycombinator.com