Bail Reform Headlines Newly Signed Criminal Justice Law
The bill directs judges to offer alternatives to money bail for misdemeanor offenses, although it doesn't ban it altogether as some jurisdictions, such as the city of Atlanta, have done in the past year.
May 07, 2018 at 03:34 PM
4 minute read
Gov. Nathan Deal signed the latest and last criminal justice reform legislation Monday, approved by the final General Assembly of his eight years in office.
The bill directs judges to offer alternatives to money bail for misdemeanor offenses, although it doesn't ban it altogether, as some jurisdictions—such as the city of Atlanta—have done in the past year.
Deal described the legislation as “providing increased flexibility and transparency”—giving judges “more opportunities to utilize community service and educational advancement as alternatives to fines or as a condition of probation.” The legislation is based on recommendations from the Georgia Council on Criminal Justice Reform and builds upon Deal's previous criminal justice reform initiatives.
“In the past eight years, Georgia has become the standard-bearer for many pressing areas of our time, but perhaps none more so than criminal justice reform,” Deal said in a news release after the Monday afternoon signing ceremony. “For the better part of a decade, we have implemented new reform measures, expanded initiatives of prior years and adjusted our policies where needed to create a criminal justice system that is more efficient and more equitable.”
Deal said the misdemeanor bail reforms will “make Georgia a safer place to call home for all of its citizens by recognizing that mercy and accountability are not mutually exclusive.”
The revisions within Senate Bill 407 require judges to consider the financial circumstances of an accused individual when determining bail. Deal said the change furthers “efforts to incarcerate only the most serious and violent offenders, rather than individuals who simply cannot afford the costs of bail.” By also giving judges additional opportunities to assign community service and educational advancement, the governor said, “we are truly rehabilitating non-violent offenders, not hardening them, and further diverting them from dark and dangerous paths.”
Deal took the opportunity to thank the members of the Georgia Council on Criminal Justice Reform for their eight years of service, as well as the sponsors of this year's legislation: Sen. Brian Strickland, R-McDonough, and Rep. Chuck Efstration, R-Dacula. And the governor noted the widespread support for SB 407, which passed the House with a vote of 172-0 and passed the Senate with a vote of 49-2.
Deal also reviewed criminal justice reform highlights during his administration.
“At the start of 2011, Georgia's prisons were operating at 107 percent of capacity, and the state's incarceration rate was the fourth-highest in the nation, with 1 in 70 adult Georgians behind bars, expected to further increase in the coming years,” Deal said. “Due to criminal justice reform measures, including the diversion and rehabilitation of nonviolent offenders to accountability courts, our prison population instead declined and our recidivism rate has decreased, saving hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars.”
Between 2009 and 2017, new overall commitments to Georgia's prison system dropped 18.6 percent, Deal said. Last year, annual commitments to state prisons reached the lowest number since 2002.
“In particular, African-Americans have historically been disproportionately represented in Georgia's prison system,” Deal said. “Between 2009 and 2017, commitments of African-American males dropped 29.7 percent and commitments of African-American females declined 38.2 percent.” Overall, the number of African-Americans committed to prison in 2017 was at the lowest level since 1987, the governor said.
“Because of our accountability courts and the emphasis we have placed on rehabilitation measures within our corrections facilities—such as education and jobs-training programs—we are helping those who have made mistakes reclaim their lives and we are making our communities safer,” Deal said. He said overall crime has decreased by 24 percent between 2008 and 2016.
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View AllFederal Judge Rejects Teams' Challenge to NASCAR's 'Anticompetitive Terms' in Agreement
Trial Begins for Man Accused of Killing Ga. Nursing Student Laken Riley
5 minute read'Rebound' In Demand For Legal Services Places Southeast Among Top 3 Regions In U.S.
4 minute readMaryland Atty Pushes Judge to Grant Discovery in Reverse Discrimination Suit Against King & Spalding
4 minute readTrending Stories
- 1How to Support Law Firm Profitability: Train Partners Up
- 2Elon Musk Names Microsoft, Calif. AG to Amended OpenAI Suit
- 3Trump’s Plan to Purge Democracy
- 4Baltimore City Govt., After Winning Opioid Jury Trial, Preparing to Demand an Additional $11B for Abatement Costs
- 5X Joins Legal Attack on California's New Deepfakes Law
Who Got The Work
Michael G. Bongiorno, Andrew Scott Dulberg and Elizabeth E. Driscoll from Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr have stepped in to represent Symbotic Inc., an A.I.-enabled technology platform that focuses on increasing supply chain efficiency, and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The case, filed Oct. 2 in Massachusetts District Court by the Brown Law Firm on behalf of Stephen Austen, accuses certain officers and directors of misleading investors in regard to Symbotic's potential for margin growth by failing to disclose that the company was not equipped to timely deploy its systems or manage expenses through project delays. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton, is 1:24-cv-12522, Austen v. Cohen et al.
Who Got The Work
Edmund Polubinski and Marie Killmond of Davis Polk & Wardwell have entered appearances for data platform software development company MongoDB and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The action, filed Oct. 7 in New York Southern District Court by the Brown Law Firm, accuses the company's directors and/or officers of falsely expressing confidence in the company’s restructuring of its sales incentive plan and downplaying the severity of decreases in its upfront commitments. The case is 1:24-cv-07594, Roy v. Ittycheria et al.
Who Got The Work
Amy O. Bruchs and Kurt F. Ellison of Michael Best & Friedrich have entered appearances for Epic Systems Corp. in a pending employment discrimination lawsuit. The suit was filed Sept. 7 in Wisconsin Western District Court by Levine Eisberner LLC and Siri & Glimstad on behalf of a project manager who claims that he was wrongfully terminated after applying for a religious exemption to the defendant's COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The case, assigned to U.S. Magistrate Judge Anita Marie Boor, is 3:24-cv-00630, Secker, Nathan v. Epic Systems Corporation.
Who Got The Work
David X. Sullivan, Thomas J. Finn and Gregory A. Hall from McCarter & English have entered appearances for Sunrun Installation Services in a pending civil rights lawsuit. The complaint was filed Sept. 4 in Connecticut District Court by attorney Robert M. Berke on behalf of former employee George Edward Steins, who was arrested and charged with employing an unregistered home improvement salesperson. The complaint alleges that had Sunrun informed the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection that the plaintiff's employment had ended in 2017 and that he no longer held Sunrun's home improvement contractor license, he would not have been hit with charges, which were dismissed in May 2024. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer, is 3:24-cv-01423, Steins v. Sunrun, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Greenberg Traurig shareholder Joshua L. Raskin has entered an appearance for boohoo.com UK Ltd. in a pending patent infringement lawsuit. The suit, filed Sept. 3 in Texas Eastern District Court by Rozier Hardt McDonough on behalf of Alto Dynamics, asserts five patents related to an online shopping platform. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap, is 2:24-cv-00719, Alto Dynamics, LLC v. boohoo.com UK Limited.
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250