FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 2020
RADICAL RAPHAEL WARNOCK WOULD ABOLISH CASH BAIL, FURTHER ENDANGERING GEORGIA FAMILIES
ATLANTA – As revealed today by Fox News, radical Raphael Warnock has publicly and vocally advocated to abolish cash bail - a policy that would threaten the safety of our families and communities by enabling violent criminals to roam free. This weak-on-crime stance from Radical Raphael is not surprising, given his previous comments attacking police as “bullies” and “thugs,” demanding authorities empty the jails, railing against the 2nd Amendment and defending convicted cop killers.
"We already knew that Raphael Warnock had no respect for our brave men and women in law enforcement, or our selfless servicemembers in the military. Now it's clear that he has little regard for the safety of Georgians, period. ” said Communications Director Stephen Lawson. "Kelly Loeffler proudly supports Georgia's uniformed officers - and will continue to stand for law and order in our communities and ensure the safety and security of Georgia's families."
Democratic Georgia U.S. Senate candidate Raphael Warnock has long opposed cash bail, the system that requires people to put up money as essentially collateral to ensure they appear for court dates, even as the Democratic Party didn't put the policy in its platform until 2020...
The pastor and now-Senate candidate also defended the policy in the months after its passing as members of the Atlanta City Council and the public began to have misgivings following what according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution was an approximately 100% spike in people failing to appear for their court dates -- a scenario cash bail is meant to prevent. The paper reported that it was not clear exactly how many of the failure to appear cases were because of the new city ordinance...
"Slavery is as old as this country, and it is as wrong as it is old. And so I stand to say that I support this new ordinance. We ought to end money bail. We ought to end wealth-based detention," Warnock said to the Atlanta City Council as it was considering the bail reform ordinance. "...We ought to call cash bail what [it] is: Wealth-based detention. Atlanta ought to be leading the way. Leave the ordinance in place..."
Efforts to end cash bail specifically grabbed headlines again in 2020 after New York state did away with cash bail and the New York Police Department (NYPD) blamed the reform for an increase in crime early in the year. “Criminal justice reforms serve as a significant reason New York City has seen this uptick in crime,” the NYPD said in a press release in early March.
And during the protests and riots following the death of George Floyd, bail funds gained popularity as a place for those hoping to support demonstrators arrested by police. Vice President-elect Kamala Harris and a number of Biden campaign staffers directed donations to the Minnesota Freedom Fund (MFF) in order "to help post bail for those protesting on the ground in Minnesota."
The MFF and other bail funds like it post bail for those who are arrested, then get that money back as long as those they bailed out show up for their court dates. The support was consistent with Biden's stated policy position, which called cash bail a "modern-day debtors' prison."
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BACKGROUND:
Video of the February 5, 2018 Atlanta City Council Meeting Shows that Warnock Argued for Ending the Entire U.S. Cash Bail System – Warnock Compared Cash Bail to “Slavery” and Said, “We Ought to End Money Bail. We Ought to End Wealth-Based Detention...This System Must Change” The February 5, 2018 Atlanta City Council meeting video confirms that Warnock spoke in the public comment period in support of Mayor Bottoms’ proposal to abolish cash bail for certain offenses. However, Warnock did not simply speak in support of Mayor Bottoms proposal – he said, “Atlanta ought to lead the way” and argued against the entire cash bail system in the United States. Warnock said of the U.S. cash bail system: “We ought to end money bail. We ought to end wealth- based detention...This system must change.” Warnock even compared the cash bail system in the U.S. to “slavery” – pointing out that both are “as old as the country” and that “Slavery is as old as this country, and it is as wrong as it is old” – and insinuated that cash bail does not hurt drug dealers because they can use their drug money to pay for bail. (Atlanta City Council Meeting Video, 2/5/2018, Min. 1:38:35) – VIDEO CLIP
At a June 2018 Press Conference, Warnock Called for an End to Cash Bail in the United States – Warnock Criticized the U.S. as the “Mass Incarceration Capital of the World” and then Said “We Gather this Day to Say, Let’s Fix It. Let’s End Cash Bail” At a June 2018 press conference, Warnock called for an end to cash bail in the United States. Warnock argued that the United States is the “Mass Incarceration Capital of the world,” that the cash bail system “actually create[s] the conditions that lead to crime,” and said “So we gather this day to say, let’s fix it. Let’s end cash bail.” (Groundswell Movement, “#LetMyPeopleGo: End Mass Incarceration in the Land of the Free,” Facebook, 6/22/2018, Min. 1:06) – VIDEO CLIP
In June 2018, the Saporta Report (an Atlanta Business & Politics Blog) Reported that Warnock Was Leading a Campaign in the Atlanta Area “Asking Prosecutors to Refrain from Demands for Cash Bail for the Vast Majority of Offenses” In June 2018, the Saporta Report (an Atlanta business & politics blog) reported that Warnock was leading the “Freedom Day Bailout Campaign.” Warnock’s “Freedom Day Bailout Campaign” had two components – directly paying the bail for criminal defendants, and lobbying prosecutors against the use of bail in criminal cases. The Saporta Report reported that the “Freedom Day Bailout Campaign” was “asking prosecutors to refrain from demands for cash bail for the vast majority of offenses.” The Saporta Report quoted Tiffany Roberts, who serves as Warnock’s “Social Justice Ministry chair” at Ebenezer Baptist Church, saying “for a poor person, or a person of modest means, or even a middle-class family, a $10,000 bond, which would be $1,000 to the bondsman, might as well be a million dollars.” (“Ebenezer Baptist advances criminal justice campaign with holiday bailout,” Saporta Report, 6/7/2018)
In October 2018, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution Reported that Abolishing Cash Bail for Certain Offenses Led to “a Massive Increase in the Number of People Failing to Appear for Their Court Date” in Atlanta – but Warnock Defended Abolishing Bail, Saying “We Ought to Call Cash Bail What It Is: Wealth-Based Detention. Atlanta Ought to Be Leading the Way. Leave the [Bail Abolishment] Ordinance in Place” Councilmember Michael Julian Bond complained that “[t]he clear result is a ‘get out of jail free’ card” and that “this was supposed to help the oppressed, but what about those people whose car was vandalized?...they show up in court but the defendant is nowhere to be found. And they're left holding the bag.” However, Warnock defended the abolition of cash bail for certain offenses in Atlanta, saying “we ought to call cash bail what it is: wealth-based detention. Atlanta ought to be leading the way. Leave the ordinance in place.” (“More defendants miss court date since some cash bonds dropped,” Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 10/5/2018)
In August 2019, Bond also criticized the bail policy, which he called “a failure” and “a real revolving door.” (“Criticism bubbles up under Atlanta’s policy to curtail cash bail,” Saporta Report, 8/20/2019)
In March 2019, 11 Alive Published an Exposé on the Shortcomings of Atlanta Abolishing Cash Bail for Certain Offenses, Entitled “They Were Arrested But Didn’t Go to Court: Does Atlanta’s Bail Reform Lack Justice?” – 11 Alive Reported “the Number of People Failing to Appear Has Increased 40 Percent in the Past Year” In March 2019, the television station 11 Alive published an exposé on the shortcomings of Atlanta abolishing cash bail for certain offenses, entitled “They Were Arrested But Didn’t Go to Court: Does Atlanta’s Bail Reform Lack Justice?” 11 Alive reported “the number of people failing to appear has increased 40 percent in the past year” following the City of Atlanta’s change in bail policy. (“They Were Arrested But Didn’t Go to Court: Does Atlanta’s Bail Reform Lack Justice?” 11 Alive, 3/26/2019)
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Stephen Lawson
Communications Director
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Paid for by Georgians for Kelly Loeffler
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