A federal judge on Friday temporarily blocked part of a Georgia law that only allows individuals or organizations to post bail three times a year if they do not meet criteria for bail bond companies.
U.S. District Judge Victoria Marie Calvert blocked part of Senate Bill 63 for 14 days before it could take effect on July 1, according to The Associated Press. The judge told attorneys to offer arguments on whether it should be stayed until a lawsuit over the legislation is resolved.
The blacked-out section limits individuals and organizations from posting more than three cash bail bonds in a year unless they meet requirements for bail bond companies, which include passing background checks, paying fees, having a business license, obtaining approval from the local sheriff and establishing a cash escrow account or other form of security.
Calvert is allowing other parts of the law to take effect, including requiring cash bail before people accused of certain crimes can be released from pretrial detention. The list of 30 crimes includes 18 that are always or often misdemeanors, including failure to appear in court for a traffic citation.
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A federal judge temporarily blocked part of a Georgia law that only allows people or organizations to post bail three times a year. (AP)
The American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia and Georgetown University Law Center’s Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection filed the lawsuit last week on behalf of the Barred Business Foundation, an Atlanta-based nonprofit that facilitates cash bail drives, and two Athens residents who run a charitable bail fund in partnership with their church.
The lawsuit alleges that the law's restriction on bail funds is unconstitutional and requests that the judge block it.
The legislation “imposes what are arguably the most severe restrictions on charitable bail funds in the nation,” the lawsuit argues, adding that the limit on charitable bail funds is “incredibly onerous—perhaps insurmountable—and is irrational and arbitrary”.
According to the lawsuit, the restrictions “will effectively eliminate charitable bail funds in Georgia.”
The Bail Project, a national nonprofit that helps thousands of low-income people post bail, announced earlier this month that it was forced to close its Atlanta branch in response to the law.
“We are encouraged by the judge's ruling and his recognition that this law is unnecessary, harmful and likely unconstitutional,” ACLU of Georgia Legal Director Cory Isaacson said in a statement. “We are relieved for our plaintiffs and the many people across the state they serve. It is unconscionable that people who do charitable bail work should face criminal penalties simply because they are helping people who are languishing in jail due to their poverty and have no other means of relief.”
The state argued in a brief filed Thursday that the law does not violate the plaintiffs' free speech and association rights because it would only restrict conduct that does not involve speech, saying the plaintiffs can still criticize Georgia's cash bail system, and what to pay Bail does not inherently send any message.
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The lawsuit alleges that the law's restriction on bail funds is unconstitutional. (iStock)
Supporters of the measure say well-intentioned groups should have no problem following the same rules that bail bond companies must follow.
The law comes amid Republican efforts to restrict community bail funds after they were used to pay bail for protesters arrested in 2020 protests against racial injustice and, later, for demonstrators protesting the construction of a center public safety training center in Atlanta, which has been dubbed “Cop City” by its opponents.
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State prosecutors have said some of the “Stop Cop City” protesters had the phone number of the Atlanta Solidarity Fund written on their bodies, which they pointed to as evidence that the protesters were planning to engage in illegal activity.
Last year, three of the bail fund's leaders were charged with charity fraud. They are among 61 people charged with extortion.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
