With around 50 thousand people in prison and 40 thousand in jail, Georgia has one of the highest rates of incarceration in the U.S. The American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia wants to change that.
Spokespeople from the group traveled from Atlanta to hold a roundtable on Thursday to discuss possibilities for prison reformation on a local level.
It was the second roundtable of its kind the ACLU of Georgia has held as part of its Smart Justice Initiative, an effort to reduce the U.S. prison population by 50 percent and combat racial disparities in the criminal justice system.
Christopher Bruce, the policy counsel for the group, said that the time is ripe for reform in Athens, but that it has to come from the community. “We are here to help in any form or fashion. So demand it.”
He told attendees that new mayor of Atlanta Keisha Lance Bottoms demanded a bill on cash bail reform soon after taking office. Non-violent offenders booked in Atlanta will no longer need to pay a cash bond in order to get of jail while awaiting their court date.
The new wave of progressives that will take office in January could make similar reforms possible for Athens.
“We have been working since 2003 or 2004 for the kind of election we had this year,” said Linda Lloyd, executive director of the Economic Justice Coalition.
Other points of discussion included marijuana reclassification, school to prison pipeline reform, and how to limit the collateral consequences that come with having a criminal record.
Both Bruce and Rob Woods, community engagement manager for the ACLU of Georgia, acknowledged Gov. Nathan Deal’s legacy of criminal justice reform.
Deal’s council on criminal justice reform will sunset on July 1 as his final term comes to a close.
“I’ve heard many of the gubernatorial candidates speak on criminal justice reform, I just haven’t heard it enough,” said Bruce. “It doesn’t matter if you’re a Democrat or Republican, criminal justice reform has been right for Georgia.”
Judge Eric Norris says one of the reforms he’s seen during Deal’s term in office is a shift in how courts have the ability to make decisions other than incarceration.
“In accountability courts where we have people that have mental health problems, we can divert them from the incarceration side because we are able to have a weekly hands-on meetings,” he said. “The reforms that we’re seeing thru the legislature and through the supreme court have really been dramatic over the past couple of years.”
The event was held at the Athens Clarke County Library in conjunction with the Athens Anti-Discrimination Movement and the Economic Justice Coalition.
The ACLU plans to come back in early fall for another roundtable.
