Bail reform advocates say a provision added to an immigration enforcement bill in the state legislature would preempt a new Atlanta law that changed the city’s cash bail system.
Atlanta’s change to its law allows people arrested for some nonviolent misdemeanors to be released on a “signature bond” or on their “own recognizance,” before they’re due back in court. Supporters of Atlanta’s ordinance said it was intended to prevent people who are unable to pay for bond to sit in jail for days.
But advocates say language added to a state bill would require people to see a judge before they’re able to be released. That process would leave people stuck in jail, said Marissa McCall Dodson, public policy director at Southern Center for Human Rights.
“This bill would essentially prohibit people from being released without financial conditions until they have seen a judge, and sometimes, this is days, weeks,” Dodson said. “We are very concerned with the way this bill might impact local jurididictions’ ability to more effectively manage their jail populations.”
The provision was added in a House committee that was considering a Senate bill on immigration enforcement.
