Georgia governor set to sign bail overhaul into law
Atlanta GA May 8 2018
Gov. Nathan Deal is set to sign into law the final phase of a criminal justice overhaul that stretched nearly a decade when he approves a plan that gives judges more leeway to forgo cash bail for poor defendants accused of non-violent crimes.
The legislation, Senate Bill 407, will let judges consider a defendant’s ability to pay in setting bail and give law enforcement officials the ability to issue citations instead of criminal charges. The governor’ planned to sign the legislation Monday.
It’s the last part of a broader initiative Deal launched shortly after his 2010 election that gave judges more discretion over sentencing, shifted more low-level offenders from costly prison beds and boosted funding for transition programs for newly-released inmates.
The governor has said his final proposal would shift the state’s focus toward “the most serious and violent offenders” while saving counties more taxpayer dollars. About 64 percent of inmates in Georgia jails are awaiting trial, and many are held behind bars because they failed to pay bail.
He faced pushback from law enforcement groups who are wary of loosening bail bond restrictions – one prominent law enforcement official compared the governor to “Lucifer” – but it passed the Legislature by an overwhelming margin.
The state previously allowed judges little flexibility in setting bail for most defendants. While the law allows judges to forgo bond for some defendants facing felonies, it requires judges to set bail for those facing misdemeanor charges.
“Consequently, the crucial question for misdemeanants in Georgia is not whether they will get bail, but the amount at which it will be set,” read a report published earlier this year from Deal’s Council on Criminal Justice Reform.
The measure was adopted amid a broader movement to change bail rules, spurred by lawsuits from civil rights groups claim jailing poor people because they lack money for bond is unconstitutional.
The city of Atlanta in February approved new city-wide restrictions on cash bonds and Stacey Abrams, a Democratic candidate for governor, has pledged to eliminate cash bail if she’s elected.
