Tune in now to Episode 36 Featuring Attorney Claudia Bertacchi and Attorney Matt Thomassen Claudia Bertacchi is an attorney with the Cook County Public Defender’s Office, Felony Trial Division Matt Thomassen is a Captain in the U.S. Army and attorney at Thomassen & Tierney. Topics Covered: 0:00 - South Side Intro 1:01 – Illinois Candidate for Governor Darren Bailey Statement About Repealing the SAFE-T Law in 30-second Political Ad Leaves Listeners Searching for Context 2:18 - The Willful Flight Standard: Focusing the Court on the Willful Evasion of Punishment – Past Non-appearance in Court Alone is Not Evidence of Future Intent to Evade Prosecution 5:39 – Evading Prosecution – Multiple Failures to Appear in Court Might be Proof of The Defendant’s Mode of Operation 8:32 – Criminal Defendant’s With Mental Health Issues Might Fail to Appear in Court Because Their Disability Interfered With Their Ability to Appear 12:36 – Statistics Supporting That Majority of Defendant’s Out on Pre-Trial Release are Not Reoffending (Citations Needed) 20:44 - Electronic Monitoring is House Arrest: Claudia Believes We Will See an Increase In House Arrest Under the SAFE-T Law 23:07 – Studies Showing Less Than 4% of People on House Arrest/Electronic Monitoring in Cook County Were Re-Arrested on a Second Significant Crime 26:05 - Electronic Home Monitoring is House Arrest – You Are Not Allowed to Leave Unless The Sheriff Verifies Your Employment and the Judge Approves the Defendant Leaving the Home for Work 28:39 - What is “Essential Movement” Defendants Are Allowed Under the SAFE-T Law? It Includes, but is not limited to, Grocery Shopping, Doctors, Shopping for Clothes, Taking Children to School. Does not Include Going to the Movies or Basketball Game 32:22 – Under the SAFE-T Law, Defendants Cannot be Charged With Felony Escape Unless the Defendant is Missing for More Than 48 Hours, But Sheriff Can Still Pick Up the Defendant at Any Time 39:22 - Violating the Terms of Electronic Home Monitoring – There are Guidelines for the Judge as to How Long to Sentence the Defendant for the Violation 41:51 - The Pre-Trial Fairness Act Attacked Unfairly: The Intent is Not to Let All Defendants Out of Jail But Rather to Allow Judges More Time to Consider More Facts in Determining whether to hold Defendant’s in Jail Before Trial 44:15 - Being at the Wrong Place at the Wrong Time 48:53 – Even Some With Conservative Views Support The Pre-Trial Fairness Portion of the SAFE-T Law – Bond Court is a Public Proceeding you Can Watch in Person or On Zoom – Defendants Already Detained Would Be Able to Make a Motion to Have the Judge Consider Whether They Should Remain Detained Based on Whether They Are A Threat and Whether They are a Flight Risk – You Have to Get a Bond Hearing Within 48 Hours of Arrest 59:58 – Amount of Defendants in Custody & Not Custody – The Chapelle Skit About The Justice Systems Being Reversed Where The Rich are Treated Like the Poor and The Poor Are Treated Like the Rich 1:03:06 – The Need for More Context About Darren Bailey’s Statement that He Would Repeal The SAFE-T Act on Day One of his Governorship 1:10:09 - The Effects of Cell Phones on the Youth: Near Sightedness and the Theory That Using All Your Dopamine up While You are Using A Cell Phone for Games & Social Media Results in Depression 1:14:56 – Kindness & Respect Outro Watch, listen and download Episode 36 on the following sites: https://theblupodcast.com/ YouTube: https://youtu.be/8_0EXzGDNXI Pandora: https://www.pandora.com/podcast/the-blu-podcast/PC:75155 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1tnACSqaI7M2bxK3q6VPHZ Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-blu-podcast/id1568957253 Google Podcasts: https://www.google.com/podcasts?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5zaW1wbGVjYXN0LmNvbS9VWThwMUk0aw%3D%3D You can also download Episode 36 on the following sites: Amazon Music, Gaana, Deezer, Overcast, Stitcher, IHeartRadio, Pocket Casts, PlayerFM, TuneIn and JioSaavn. Please watch, like and share, share, share!!!