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Georgia bill threatens to expand cash bail and constrict bail funds [1]
['Jocelyn James', 'More Jocelyn James']
Date: 2024-02-27
A Georgia bill that would require cash bail for more than two dozen additional criminalized acts is moving forward in the state legislature. Senate Bill 63 passed through the Georgia General Assembly on Feb. 6 and now waits to be signed into law by Gov. Brian Kemp. If passed, SB 63 would increase the number of bail-restricted offenses by 30, including criminal trespass, obstruction of justice, fleeing or attempting to elude police, and rioting. Criminal justice advocates worry the law would strain Georgia’s already fraught jail infrastructure and endanger charitable bail funds.
Opponents of the bill argue that it is designed to target Stop Cop City organizers. Racketeering and domestic terrorism—charges that were levied against 61 protesters last year—are among the offenses that may become bail-mandatory. Offenses such as unlawful assembly and obstruction of justice are looped into the bill with identity theft and reckless driving.
In a press release issued on Feb. 8, the American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia announced it would sue if the governor didn’t veto SB 63. The organization claims that requiring those accused of a crime to remain in jail would endanger the community and that Black individuals would be more likely to be affected by the legislation.
“Not only is SB 63 bad policy, it is illegal. It unconstitutionally criminalizes poverty and restricts conduct protected by the First Amendment, and the ACLU of Georgia will sue if the governor signs this bill into law,” said Cory Isaacson, the legal director of the ACLU of Georgia. “We can’t allow the state to enact a system in which a person’s freedom is determined by the color of their skin and the amount of money in their wallet.”
Punishing the most vulnerable demographic
Wealth-based detention is baked into the U.S. legal system. Those with the financial means to post bail get to exist freely. Those who are working class, poor, or unhoused may spend months or even years in jail. More than two-thirds of U.S. jail detainees are trapped because they cannot afford bail. In 2022, the Federal Reserve Board found that 37% of Americans struggle to cover a $400 emergency expense. The median bail amount for U.S. felonies is $10,000, with $1,000 owed to the bond agent plus court fees.
SB 63 would prohibit individuals with prior felony arrests within the preceding seven years from being released with bond. Just two days in jail can increase the likelihood of losing one’s job, housing, or child custody, which is part of why many detainees feel pressured to plead guilty just to get out.
If SB 63 is signed into law, poor and working-class Atlanta residents, most of whom are Black, would be disproportionately affected. Black people are 3.6 percentage points more likely to be assigned bail with average amounts that are $9,923 higher than white people. Georgia incarcerates people at a rate 46% higher than the U.S. average, with 51% percent of its jailed population being Black.
Fallon McClure, the deputy director of policy and advocacy at the ACLU of Georgia, spoke to the unusual timing of the bill.
“The bill had also passed last year, but it passed differently with versions in the House and Senate … All those versions did not have this bail component,” McClure said. “Typically the ‘bad’ bills happen after crossover day, which is the midpoint [of the legislative session]. And crossover day is Feb. 29 this year. Normally it’s a slow wind-up, but it’s been super ‘trample on all the liberties and rights’ this year from the beginning. That’s how we knew it was coming, and we instantly started organizing to try to fight back.”
Jail infrastructure is already at a breaking point
Arrested individuals who lack stable housing and health insurance are more likely to die while detained. Georgia’s incarcerated population holds a higher burden of chronic disease, substance use disorders, and untreated mental health conditions compared to the general population. Since 2008, the state has nearly doubled the issuing of medical reprieves to prisoners just to save millions on medical spending.
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) opened an investigation last summer into Fulton County Jail following reports of overcrowding and life-threatening living conditions. Ten people died in the sheriff’s custody in 2023, and 15 died the year prior. Shawndre Delmore, Samuel Lawrence, and Alexander Hawkins were among the 10, all unable to afford a pretrial bond. More recently, Michael Anthony Holland, who had been held on a $55,000 bond since May 2023, was found unresponsive in his cell last month.
“In the Fulton County Jail, of the 10 people that died last year, I want to say eight of them were on bonds of $5,000 or less,” McClure said. “We’re talking about only $500 for a bail bond. People can’t afford even that.”
On Feb. 1, Georgia Sens. Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock, as well as Rep. Nikema Williams, asked the DOJ to prioritize the jail investigation. They noted that at least seven people had died since it had begun. Some state governments have already eliminated cash bail or sought alternatives. California abolished the practice in 2018. Illinois eliminated it in 2023.
Scorched earth on nonprofit bail funds
SB 63 would restrict charitable bail funds, nonprofit organizations, and individuals from posting bail for more than three individuals annually. Bail relief organizations across Georgia have already expressed a chilling effect after members of the Atlanta Solidarity Fund, which provided financial support to arrested Cop City demonstrators, were arrested and accused of money laundering and charity fraud last year.
The bill could also potentially criminalize religious institutions, which are historically on the front lines of social justice and civil rights justice. In the era of chattel slavery, church communities raised money to purchase the freedom of loved ones.
“We, along with many organizational partners, are concerned that this legislation will not only render community relief to incarcerated people virtually impossible, but will also criminalize faith leaders, houses of worship, direct aid agencies, and other entities upon whom community members depend,” Southern Center for Human Rights (SCHR) Director of Public Policy Tiffany Roberts wrote in a Feb. 1 letter to the Atlanta City Council and Fulton County Board of Commissioners. “Beyond concerns about the criminal legal system, we are also concerned that the bill is an abridgment of the First Amendment of the U.S. and Georgia Constitutions.”
Under SB 63, unlimited bail posting would be restricted to bail bond companies. Lacking competition, these for-profit entities could be incentivized to raise their nonrefundable fees, shutting out anyone who could barely meet them prior.
SB 63 may also roll back previous leaps in criminal justice reform. In 2018, Atlanta banned cash bail requirements for detainees at its detention center. That same year, Georgia then-Gov. Nathan Deal pushed a bill that would give judges more discretion to forgo cash bail for poor defendants accused of misdemeanor offenses. Under SB 63, judges would be required to set bail in cases where convicted individuals likely would not be sentenced to jail time.
The bill’s sponsor, state Sen. Randy Robertson, stated at a Senate Public Safety Committee hearing that there was a need to expand cash bail due to a continued rise in crime.
“[We’re] continuing to put these guardrails up to ensure that we take the revolving doors off the jails and the 159 counties throughout Georgia,” Robertson said. “Being indigent and having no money does not excuse anyone from committing a crime.”
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[1] Url:
https://prismreports.org/2024/02/27/georgia-bill-expands-cash-bail/
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