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We've got big news in our Communities Over Cages: Close the Jail ATL Campaign!
Four different options currently sit on the Mayor’s desk for what to do with the city jail.
These design plans- put together by abolitionist architects at Designing Justice Designing Spaces after hours of community engagement sessions all over the city- all replace the Atlanta City Detention Center with a Center for Equity, Wellness & Freedom.
The first two designs repurpose the existing facility by turning the first 2 floors into a Center for Equity, Wellness & Freedom (Option One) or by remodeling the entire building (Option Two). The last two design plans demolish the jail and build a Center for Equity, Wellness & Freedom in its place, with the last option turning the land into a multi-use park and building multiple Centers across Atlanta.
The Communities Over Cages: Close the Jail ATL Campaign (which Women on the Rise co-leads with our partners at Racial Justice Action Center) and over 40 campaign alliance members strongly favor options 3 & 4 that raze the building and replace it with a new structure. We feel that these options are the best way to ensure community control of the building and that it is not later transformed back into a jail.
While the Mayor will ultimately make the decision, we need to hear from YOU.
In addition to these design plans, other recommendations were recently sent to the Mayor to end broken windows policing and decriminalize all municipal offenses ("crimes" that target poor or homeless Black people like spitting on the sidewalk, drinking too close to a liquor store, or urinating in public) which are responsible for filling the jail cells. We know that one of the critical steps to keep our communities safe is to decrease unnecessary interactions with law enforcement. By decriminalizing the municipal code, we will be one step closer to a redeemed Atlanta.
Don’t forget to vote on your favorite design plan as we reimagine Atlanta!
It only takes 5 minutes!
P.S. Want to stay up-to-date on our Communities Over Cages: Close the Jail ATL Campaign? Sign up for updates here!