Early last year Mary Norwood, chair of the Buckhead Council of Neighborhoods and a former mayoral candidate, wrote a letter addressed to Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms decrying the city’s rising crime. Norwood, Buckhead community leader Amber Connor and other activists in Atlanta’s Buckhead business section charged that crime levels were even higher than reported by the police. Not much has changed since that time, with the city especially experiencing a rise in shootings, car-jackings and home break-ins.
Just this week some high-profile crimes led a frustrated Connor and her husband to write a letter to U.S. Attorney General William Barr seeking federal action. As this is written, the Connor letter has received zero media coverage. The following are some excerpts.
“This letter is a request to extend the federal corruption investigation of Atlanta city government to the judiciary branch, with specific concern focused on how the avoidance of the Federal Mandate Cap for allowable prison inmates is being used,” it begins. “In 2013 the Fulton County jail was past the mandated level– on top of having to pay out $4 million for a working lock system, the county was faced with having to continue paying fines, continue paying subcontractors in other jurisdictions for jail space, or having to build another jail. The solution… to keep the prison population below the 2,500 cap by coordinated efforts.”
The letter continues:
1. Jails stay below the cap
2. The District Attorney does not get all the paperwork on arrested detainees to the judge
3. Repeat offenders are not seen by the same judge, and no prior paperwork is given
4. Hearings are rescheduled repeatedly to the maximum allowable time.
5. Signature bonds are granted to any offender when the cap is narrowing.
6. Violent juvenile offenders are released to non-vetted rehabilitation workshops
7. Former Chief Judge states that they will release 1,200 prisoners (no discretion as to violent or non-violent offenders)
8. Take the Judicial Qualifications Commission away from being an independent body and into legislative control, with the Chief Superior Court Judge as one of the three Committee Members on the hearing panel.
The letter goes on to accuse then-Chief Superior Court Judge Doris Downs along with Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard of playing a role “in keeping the courts in chaos, allowing violent criminals to return to our streets through the issuing of signature bonds and not getting proper paperwork to judges by lack of oversight and under staffing. …”
It will be interesting to see if a response comes back from Washington, or from U.S. Attorney B.J. Pak who has Atlanta within his federal prosecutorial jurisdiction.
