Update: Walker v. Calhoun
Calhoun, GA – On September 27, 2017, the State Attorneys General on behalf of the States of Georgia, Florida, and Alabama filed an amicus brief in support of the City of Calhoun, Georgia in this the second appeal before the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit in Walker v. Calhoun.
Included in the amicus brief were…
- Steve Marshall, Attorney General of Alabama
- Pamela Jo Bondi, Attorney General of Florida
- Christopher M. Carr, Attorney General of Georgia
The filing of the amicus brief, and those from other states Attorneys General from across the Country, now brings the tally to nine Attorneys General that have filed briefs against the fundamental equal protection and due process bail theories that allege the existence of a “wealth based human caging” bail system.
The current bail system has been in place for hundreds of years – dating back to the middle ages – and adopted in the first Pennsylvania Constitution of 1776, which stated that, “All prisoners shall be bailable by sufficient sureties, unless for capital offenses, when the proof is evident, or presumption great.”
In their brief, the Attorneys General wasted no time getting to the point:
“The States of the Eleventh Circuit—Georgia, Alabama, and Florida— have a “substantial interest in ensuring that persons accused of crimes are available for trials and, ultimately, for service of their sentences.” The Eighth Amendment expressly contemplates the use of bail for this purpose, and communities across the amici States have long relied on monetary bail to advance their legitimate governmental interests. The district court’s order in this case undermines these interests by severely limiting communities’ ability to implement constitutional bail procedures.”
“Bail has been an integral part of our nation’s criminal justice system for centuries, and the Constitution explicitly contemplates its use. The Supreme Court has never as much as suggested that monetary bail is per se constitutionally suspect.”
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