Ninian Edwards statue taken off pedestal, future location uncertain alestlelive.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from alestlelive.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
A new Illinois bill, titled HB 3653, was recently passed by the Illinois General Assembly. It aims to reform the criminal justice system by abolishing cash bail by 2023 â through the Pretrial Fairness Act â among other changes. It is now up to Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker to sign it into law.Â
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With these changes in effect, court judges would be unable to detain most people. According to the bill, âdetention only shall be imposed when it is determined that the defendant poses a danger to a specific, identifiable person or persons, or has a high likelihood of willful flight.âÂ
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âThe cash bail system has consistently been shown to create a disadvantage for those in the lower class economically, and being detained prior to trial has consistently been shown to increase the likelihood of being convicted of whatever offense youâre charged with â and then if you are convicted, it increases the likelihood that you are going to be inca
Terri Maddox / Belleville News-Democrat
EDWARDSVILLE A controversial bronze statue of Ninian Edwards will, for the time being, remain where it is installed, in a small plaza near the city’s center.
The statue, the plaza and Edwards’ slavery
Edwards, whom the city is named after, was a founding political leader in Illinois, serving as its only territorial governor in the early 1800s and later as a U.S. Senator and the state’s third governor.
He owned enslaved people and vetoed legislation as territorial governor that would have abolished indentured servitude, which many historians say was a defacto form of slavery. Additionally, Edwards commanded the Illinois Militia, which killed indigenous people and led attacks on their villages.