Under Pressure, Atlanta City Council Takes Up Bail Reform

Both the new Atlanta mayor, Keisha Lance Bottoms, and many City Council members say they support a move to reform bail for certain nonviolent arrests, but the details have yet to be hashed out.

The push for change in Atlanta is part of a wave of bail reform efforts across the country. The basic idea is to address the issue of poor people spending days and weeks in jail for low-level crimes because they cannot afford bail.

Activist Mary Hooks with Southerners on New Ground wants to end money bail but says the city should not rush an ordinance through.

“I would rather a slow and respectful process, where our people come out better on the other side, versus just saying, ‘Hey, Lance Bottoms passed bail reform within her first hundred days,’” Hooks said.

Her group has bailed more than 50 Atlanta women out of jail since last year and wants a comprehensive solution that would also address barriers some low-income people face in making it back to court once released.

Charles Shaw was one of more than a dozen people representing the bail bonds industry who showed up to City Hall in opposition.

“We believe that this is not a systemic problem. There are not people languishing in jail simply because they do not have financial means. To the extent that is a problem, we need to address it, but we believe it’s an anomaly or an aberration,” Shaw said.

The Southern Center for Human Rights, which has petitioned the city to end money bond, has called Atlanta’s current system unconstitutional.

A City Council working group will take up the issue next week.