Georgia Senate Bill Calls for Bail for 53 More Crimes

Georgia senators want to require bail for far more crimes than current law allows, a move that will keep people from committing more crimes, according to the bill’s sponsor.

“These are not mistakes. These are not unintentional actions. These are people determined to break the law,” Senator Randy Robertson, a Republican from Catahoula, said of the people he targets with Senate Bill 63, passed Thursday by a vote of 31 to 21, mostly along partisan lines. It will now be referred to the House for further discussion.

Currently, a person accused of a crime in Georgia is only required to send money or property to get out of prison for seven serious crimes, such as murder or rape. The measure adds 53 additional crimes to the list, including passing a worthless check or misdemeanors such as reckless driving or fighting in a public place. It repeals parts of a 2018 law championed by former Gov. Nathan Deal that sought to eliminate bail for most petty offenses.

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Opponents say this means more poor people will go to jail and risk losing their jobs and homes, including if they are charged with crimes for which they are unlikely to ever go to jail.

“The problem is that bail is the dumbest weapon we have to fight crime. And this is a prison. Just a prison,” said Senator Josh McLaurin, a Democrat from Sandy Springs.

The bill is part of a nationwide Republican movement to oppose the changes of the past two decades that have allowed more people to get out of prison without bail.

“It puzzles me that so many people care about prisoners and criminals rather than citizens and victims,” Sen. Jon Albers, a Roswell Republican, said Thursday.

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Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp said he wants stricter bail conditions. This is in line with how he and other Republicans last year criticized their Democratic opponents for being soft on crime. Kemp also backs other anti-crime proposals put forward this year in Georgia, including longer sentences for some offenders.

“We’ve seen that being tough on crime helps,” said Robertson, one of the leading proponents of fighting crime. “It works. Don’t be put off by those who only protect criminals.”

The bail measure in Georgia states that no one who has been convicted of three previous felony offenses, or who has been convicted of any crime within the previous seven years, can be released from prison without posting cash or property bail.

Robertson stated that without such provisions, judges and prosecutors would “make exceptions” for people who don’t deserve them.

“They are repeat offenders,” Robertson said. “These are the people the system has been kind to.”

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The bill also further restricts the city or county’s ability to release someone from prison without bail by saying that no one can be automatically allowed to leave prison without bail unless they are brought before a judge.

Judges should only post bail to people who are not considered a threat to society and a threat of flight before trial. The bill would not remove a Georgia law that requires judges to consider a person’s ability to post bail when setting bail. But opponents said they believe Republicans are trying to pressure elected judges to set higher bail amounts even if people can’t pay.

“This bill will essentially force more judges to choose prison more often because of the pressure they face,” McLaurin said.

In another part of the bill, domestic terrorism is classified as a serious violent crime. This means that anyone convicted of a crime must serve the entire sentence ordered by the judge, cannot be placed on probation as the first offender, and cannot be released on parole unless the offender has served at least 30 years in prison.

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Follow Jeff Amy on Twitter at https://twitter.com/jeffamy.

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