Two women behind bars in Atlanta sued the state of Georgia on Friday over a recent law that added a cash bail requirement for more crimes, many of them misdemeanors.
The lawsuit accuses the state of violating people’s constitutional rights to due process when they’re accused of crimes that require cash bail due to last year’s Senate Bill 63. The law, which went into effect in July, requires cash bail for 30 additional crimes, 18 of which are always or often misdemeanors, including failing to appear for a traffic citation if it’s not their first.
Georgia requires cash bail for far more offenses than any other state and has one of the nation’s highest rates of people in jail or prison.
The American Civil Liberties Union, the American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia, and the Southern Center for Human Rights, which filed the suit on behalf of the two women and a nonprofit group, estimate that tens of thousands of Georgians have and will be subject to the law if a judge doesn’t rule it unconstitutional.
Republicans who supported the measure have argued that people let out of jail without bail are less likely to show up for court than those who have paid to get out of jail, although national studies contradict that claim. They also said judges could still set low bails.
