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A federal judge temporarily blocked part of a Georgia law on Friday that only allows people or organizations to post bonds three times a year if they do not meet the criteria for bail bond companies.
U.S. District Judge Victoria Marie Calvert blocked part of Senate Bill 63 for 14 days before it could take effect on July 1, according to The Associated Press. The judge told lawyers to offer arguments on whether it should be stayed until a lawsuit over the legislation is resolved.
The blocked section limits people and organizations from posting more than three cash bonds in a year unless they meet requirements for bail bond companies, which includes passing background checks, paying fees, holding a business license, securing the local sheriff’s approval and establishing a cash escrow account or other form of collateral.
Calvert is allowing other parts of the law to take effect, including requiring cash bail before people who are charged with certain crimes can be released from pretrial detention. The list of 30 crimes includes 18 that are always or often misdemeanors, including failure to appear in court for a traffic citation.
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A federal judge temporarily blocked part of a Georgia law that only allows people or organizations to post bonds three times a year. (AP)
The American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia and the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection at Georgetown University Law Center filed the lawsuit last week on behalf of Barred Business Foundation, an Atlanta-based nonprofit that facilitates campaigns to pay cash bail, and two Athens residents who run a charitable bail fund in association with their church.
The lawsuit alleges that the law’s restriction on bail funds are unconstitutional and requests that the judge block it.
The legislation “imposes what are arguably the most severe restrictions on charitable bail funds in the nation,” the lawsuit argues, adding that…
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