The Athens Anti-Discrimination Movement is inviting members of the Athens community to Tuesday evening’s Mayor and Commission meeting at City Hall. President and founder Mokah-Jasmine Johnson says the one of the topics expected on the agenda is the elimination of cash bail for certain minor offenses and misdemeanors.
“We’ve been advocating for that for almost a year,” Johnson said. “You know we’ve had roundtable discussions and we’ve done some things behind [the] scenes and we even went out to the Mayor and Commission meeting in April.”
Johnson says she’s pleased to be able to have the ACC government considering a change which she believes can have a real impact on some members of the community.
“I’m very excited because it’s a possibility that on a local level, dealing with certain things, we’re not saying you won’t get arrested, we’re not saying that. What we’re saying is they can get out of jail without having to possibly, put up a bail.”
Johnson says poor people and minorities are usually affected more than others.
“It could be for a traffic violation, or whatever the case may be, and that’s basically missing income from that job, or you could lose that job, depending on what kind of a job you have.
She believes when people are unable to make bail, they can suffer multiple consequences for the same transgression.
“It’s like you get punished for one crime on multiple levels.”
Johnson says the group is also continuing to push for a Community Police Accountability Board in Clarke County.
“We feel like that’s important for a couple of reasons and it’s not just to tell the police what to do. It’s also to build trust and to have a more transparent process.”
The meeting begins at 6 pm.
