UHND.com - Notre Dame Football, Basketball, & Recruiting

“Somebody murders somebody and they’re out on no cash bail before the day is out,” Trump claimed.

Crime Stats After Bail Changes
Although Trump claimed that “every place in the country where you have no cash bail is a disaster,” crime statistics overall don’t support that.

Trump specifically mentioned the policies in New York and Chicago as having “started the [crime] problem” in those areas.

The Illinois Safety, Accountability, Fairness and Equality-Today Act — better known as the SAFE-T Act — was signed into law in 2021. One part of the law, known as the Pretrial Fairness Act, eliminated cash bail for all offenses. It went into effect in September 2023. However, the act still allowed judges to detain a person who is considered a flight risk or who poses a threat to “any other person or the community.” A judge could also detain someone because of the nature of the crime.

Overall, year-to-date crime from January to August 2025 dropped 15% compared with the same period in 2023, which was before the law went into effect, according to Chicago Police Department data. Murder is down 37%; robbery is down 36%; aggravated battery is down 5%, and burglary is down 18%


Link: https://www.factcheck.org/2025/08/trumps-distortions-on-cashless-bail/