Bail Project closes Atlanta office after Georgia Republicans target criminal justice reform efforts

The Bail Project, a national nonprofit that helps thousands of incarcerated people get out of jail while awaiting trial, closed its Atlanta branch Monday due to a new Georgia law that severely restricts the freedom to file security for others.

The law, Senate Bill 63, limits the right of individuals and organizations to post more than three cash bonds per year, limiting that ability to dedicated bail bond companies. It also requires cash bail for 30 additional offenses, many of which are generally considered misdemeanors, including possession of marijuana, failure to appear in court and trespassing. The law comes into force in July.

For four years, the Bail Project’s Atlanta branch has provided free bail assistance and pretrial support to thousands of low-income people, the majority of whom are people of color. Nationally, the Bail Project says it has paid $81 million to free more than 30,000 people.

“We are deeply dismayed by Georgia lawmakers’ pursuit of this regressive approach to public safety, which flies in the face of evidence showing that cash bail does not improve safety. Cash bail perpetuates a two-tiered justice system in Georgia – one for the wealthy and another for everyone else,” the organization said in a statement.

Senate Bill 63 was signed into law in May by Gov. Brian Kemp, who said during his signing ceremony that the bill “ensures that dangerous individuals cannot walk our streets and commit other crimes,” the Associated Press reported.

A number of criminal justice organizations have spoken out against the law, and the American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia has threatened legal action.

Instead of passing Senate Bill 63, The Bail Project said Georgia lawmakers could have chosen to adopt “evidence-based” policies to address court delays and invest in community services to “reduce the use of pretrial incarceration,” as other states have done. “Instead, they have opted for a path that perpetuates further incarceration, racial inequity, trauma and harm. Shame on them.”