Pritzker Lied Defending the SAFE-T Act, Now a Chicago Police Officer Is Dead

In this American Greatness article, Jack Lucey argues that Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker and other defenders of the SAFE-T Act misled voters about its public-safety consequences, using the killing of Chicago Police Officer John Bartholomew as the central example.

• The article says Officer John Bartholomew was murdered last month during a shooting at Swedish Hospital in Chicago, allegedly by Alphanso Talley, described as a 26-year-old career criminal who also allegedly wounded Bartholomew’s partner.
• Lucey criticizes Pritzker’s 2022 defense of the SAFE-T Act, especially his repeated claim that the law was designed to protect low-level offenders such as a single mother jailed for stealing diapers.
• The author argues that this example was emotionally manipulative and misleading, citing prior criticism from Illinois prosecutors who opposed the SAFE-T Act and said such a scenario would not have happened under preexisting Illinois law.
• The article contends that Pritzker falsely claimed the law would keep murderers, domestic abusers, and violent criminals in jail, while Talley was allegedly free despite being a seven-time felon, accused of violence, a parole absconder, and someone who failed to maintain his electronic monitoring device.
• Lucey acknowledges that SAFE-T Act defenders often blame judges rather than the statute itself, but he argues the law changed the framework judges use, including in Talley’s case, where the judge reportedly cited the SAFE-T Act.
• The piece broadens the criticism to Cook County’s criminal justice culture, pointing to former State’s Attorney Kim Foxx, lenient judges, electronic monitoring failures, and what the author sees as a “revolving door” for repeat offenders.
• The article cites other violent cases involving women as victims, including Sheridan Gorman’s murder and Bethany MaGee being set on fire on a CTA train, to argue that progressive criminal justice policies have endangered the public.
• Lucey concludes that repealing or substantially amending the SAFE-T Act will be difficult, but argues that voters should hold Pritzker and Cook County judges accountable in upcoming elections.

Read the full story: https://amgreatness.com/2026/05/09/pritzker-lied-defending-the-safe-t-act-now-a-chicago-police-officer-is-dead/