The United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit vacated a grant of a preliminary injunction on Thursday, March 9 in the federal bail case of Walker v. Calhoun, Georgia. The remanding of the case back to the district court represents a major shift in the conversation as to the constitutionality of bail.
During the hearing, the presiding panel of three judges expressed considerable skepticism at the underlying and basic equal protection theories put forth in the case.
District Judge Harold Murphy had earlier granted an injunction against the city because he determined that the city’s bail system discriminated against people based on their wealth.
However, in a unanimous per curium order, the judges ruled that Judge Murphy’s injunction order violated Rule 65 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, insofar as it requires the city to simply follow the law, but then offers “no guidance” or specificity as to what the constitutionally minimal criteria may be.
Jeff Clayton, Executive Director of the American Bail Coalition said, “We knew Judge Murphy’s order would not stand either on the merits or as a matter of procedure. Yet, we will continue to work with our partners, the Georgia Association of Professional Bondsmen and others, to finally put an end to these unmeritorious lawsuits whether it be in California, Texas, or Calhoun, Georgia.”
Of a number of similar cases around the country that have challenged the constitutionality of money bail, only one has not been vacated on the theory of underlying equal protection (which offers that criminal defendants are discriminated against because they cannot afford to pay for their bail after arrest). The one case that escaped being vacated was in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California, in which Judge Troy Nunley dismissed the plaintiff’s claim in Welchen v. Harris County, Texas.
While the case will likely move forward again — presumably to another preliminary injunction hearing before Judge Murphy — today’s ruling represents a considerable victory in the fight for bail which is supported by former U.S. Solicitor General Paul Clement along with the Georgia Association of Professional Bondsmen, and the Georgia Sheriffs’ Association.