Author Archives: Carol Skalnik Leff

The Assault on the Pretrial Fairness Act

Posted on 11/04/2022 by Carol Skalnik Leff

Last month, News-Gazette columnist Jim Dey headlined “hysteria” over the provisions of the 2021 Illinois Pretrial Fairness Act (PFA), which will go into effect in January, including the end to cash bail. Predictably, but illogically, Dey located the hysteria on the side … Continue reading →

 887 total views

Posted in IL, incarceration, Justice, Politics | Tagged , , | Comments Off on The Assault on the Pretrial Fairness Act

Bail Systems as Wealth-Based Incarceration, or “No Money, No Justice”

Posted on 04/04/2021 by Carol Skalnik Leff

  The Eighth Amendment to the US Constitution prohibits “excessive” bail, a prohibition that dates back to English common law, and is largely honored in the breach. In Champaign County Jail, on any given day this past winter, there were … Continue reading →

Posted in Court System, IL, incarceration, Justice, National, Women | Comments Off on Bail Systems as Wealth-Based Incarceration, or “No Money, No Justice”

Democratic Backsliding in Eastern Europe

Posted on 12/11/2018 by Carol Skalnik Leff

After the collapse of East European communist regimes, the watchword among Western European political elites and political scientists was “conditionality,” a term borrowed from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) lexicon to express the terms upon which the new regimes could win coveted … Continue reading →

Posted in Eastern Europe, Poland | Comments Off on Democratic Backsliding in Eastern Europe