With just over 100 days remaining until Atlanta hosts its first World Cup match, activists and local officials are pushing the city not to repeat the same “cleanup the streets” program that led up to the 1996 Olympic Games. An estimated 30,000 Atlantans were displaced from their homes in the six years prior to the […]
Atlanta City Detention Center
Posted inCriminal Justice, Incarceration
Communities Over Cages: Coalition Calls on Atlanta to End Jail Lease
As the final year of Fulton County’s four-year lease for use of the Atlanta City Detention Center approaches, a group of local and national criminal justice advocacy groups is calling on the Atlanta City Council to support a resolution to begin planning how the county will remove its 435 inmates from the facility. The coalition […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Incarceration
Overcrowded, Understaffed and Unsafe: One Woman’s Night in Atlanta’s City Jail
Dominique Grant said she was in the middle of a mental health crisis when she was pulled over driving on Moreland Avenue by a Georgia State Trooper the Friday before Mother’s Day. Arrested under suspicion of DUI, the 32-year-old mother was booked into the Atlanta City Detention Center (ACDC) around 11 p.m. that night. Grant […]
Posted inCourts, Criminal Justice
Federal Judge Rules Fulton Sheriff Did Not Comply With Court Settlement
A federal magistrate judge has ruled that Fulton County Sheriff Patrick Labat failed to comply with the requirements of a 2022 settlement agreement with some women incarcerated under his jurisdiction. Now both sides are waiting for an appeals court to determine what happens next. The agreement resulted from a 2019 class-action lawsuit filed on behalf […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Incarceration
Fulton Jail Study Will Continue as Planned
The Justice Policy Board — a group of city and county leaders working with local organizations to develop arrest and incarceration diversion resources — will have to finish its jail population review before Fulton County is allowed to begin moving inmates into the Atlanta City Detention Center. By a vote of 9-5, the Atlanta City […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Incarceration
Fulton Jail Study Could be Sidestepped by City Council
There is a new development in the proposed plan to lease space in the Atlanta City Detention Center to Fulton County. The Public Safety and Legal Administration Committee voted to introduce legislation that would repeal an amendment requiring a jail population review before the agreement can go into effect. When the City Council voted to […]
Posted inCapital B ATL Events
‘A Tale of Two Jails’: Join Us for a Conversation About Criminal Justice in Atlanta
In the past few months, the Fulton County Jail on Rice Street has been at the forefront of discussion on whether the city should lease beds in the Atlanta City Detention Center to Fulton County to address overcrowding. In August, the City Council voted to lease up to 700 beds in the 17-story ACDC building […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Incarceration
Why Does Atlanta Want to Lease Its Jail to Fulton County?
As local leaders and criminal justice advocates eagerly await the results of a Fulton County Jail inmate population study expected to be released this month, Atlanta’s recent decision to lease jail space to the county has drawn accusations of increasing mass incarceration. In August, the conversation around overcrowding in metro jails got contentious when the […]
Posted inNews Roundup
Former Principal Avoids Prison in Atlanta School Cheating Scandal
Top of the morning! Here is Your AM Rundown, with news updates in 400 words or less. Get caught up on headlines and other developments you might’ve missed. Here’s what’s up in Atlanta today: ICYMI: Teachers, sign out of Indeed and head to Columbia Middle School today! A job fair is being thrown by DeKalb […]
Posted inNews Roundup
Atlanta Residents Call on City to Close Detention Center
Here is Your AM Rundown, with news updates in 400 words or less. Get caught up on headlines and other developments you might’ve missed. Here’s what’s up in Atlanta today: Community members voiced their support for the Atlanta City Detention Center’s closure at Tuesday’s City Council meeting. The center, which reportedly holds fewer than 50 […]