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SCHR, ACLU, ACLU of Georgia Send Letter With Proposed Changes to Jail Lease to Mayor Dickens, City Council

This morning, the American Civil Liberties Union, the American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia, and the Southern Center for Human Rights sent the below letter to Mayor Dickens and the Atlanta City Council. The letter offers proposed changes to the intergovernmental agreement between the City of Atlanta, the Fulton County Sheriff, and Fulton County for the relocation of adults detained by Fulton County to the Atlanta City Detention Center.

The current proposed agreement contains multiple impermissible provisions — extending the scope and duration of the lease with Fulton County, providing terms that disadvantage the City of Atlanta, and undermining good governance for the city of Atlanta. The organizations also request that Article 6.4, which allows for Atlanta to profit directly from phone and commissary fees generated from indigent people in Fulton County’s custody, be stricken.

In the interest of protecting the city and all of its residents, the signatories are asking for the Mayor and Council to consider and adopt all of the suggestions provided in the letter.

Read more about the fight to close and repurpose the Atlanta City Detention Center here.