A new coalition, Community Over Cages, gathered Wednesday morning in downtown Atlanta for a press conference to share a report examining the operations of the Fulton County Jail and the reasons Fulton leaders cite to justify a costly new jail are wholly unnecessary.
The press conference was held at the Fulton County Superior Court to announce the formation of the coalition, as well as unveil a report by the Prison Policy Initiative, which detailed reasons why a $2 billion jail is not needed.
“For at least two years now, Fulton County leaders have disregarded the alternatives that the ACLU of Georgia and other groups have offered as options to building the new jail,” said ACLU of Georgia Deputy Policy and Advocacy Director Fallon McClure. “Now is the time for leaders to listen and study the information before them to address this problem and put an end to tragic and fatal outcomes at the Fulton County Jail.”
The coalition brings together community leaders, legal experts, activists, and organizations united by the common goal of shrinking the footprint of the criminal legal system and ensuring the system of confinement is safe, humane, and habitable and improving conditions within the county jail. The members of the coalition include Women on the Rise GA, Color of Change, the American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia, Black Futurists Group, Southern Center for Human Rights, Legal Action Center, and more.
Read the full report by the Prison Policy Initiative here. To learn more about Communities Over Cages, visit communityovercages.com.
More resources about the Fulton County Jail:
Breaking the Cycle: Exploring Alternatives to a New Jail (2023)
There are Better Solutions: An Analysis of Fulton County's Jail Population Data (2022)
