On February 5, at 12:00 p.m., a coalition of community based organizations, faith and legal advocates will call for the community to join a rally, press conference and Atlanta City Council meeting to demand the end to money bail. The rally and press conference was held at Atlanta City Hall.
Immediately following the rally and press conference, the coalition and members of the community attended the Atlanta City Council Meeting at 1:00 p.m. where a vote on ordinance number 18-0-1045 titled “ORDINANCE TO ELIMINATE THE REQUIREMENT OF THE PAYMENT OF A CASH BOND TO SECURE RELEASE FROM THE ACDC” took place place.
The coalition will be present to encourage the council members to adopt this proposed legislation.
“By clearly prohibiting the use of money bonds for the most minor offenses, and by making clear that if used, they must be fashioned in a way that will not result in pretrial detention, this proposed legislation takes a big step in the direction of ending the illegal pretrial detention of the poor.” Jon Rapping, Gideon’s Promise
Members of the Coalition to End Money Bail include: Southerners on New Ground/SONG, Southern Center for Human Rights (SCHR), Gideon’s Promise, Sankofa United Church of Christ, Davis Bozeman Law Firm, Lawyers United for a New Atlanta(LUNA), Healing HeartsUSA Ministries, Racial Justice Action Center(RAJC), Snap Co. – The Solutions Not Punishment Coalition, Women on the Rise, SisterCARE Alliance, Concerned Black Clergy of Metropolitan Atlanta, Urban League of Greater Atlanta, Save OurSelves(SOS), ACLU of Georgia, Atlanta NAACP and Clayton Henry National Action Network.
