Case: 17-13139 Date Filed: 08/22/2018 Page: 1 of 75 [PUBLISH] IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT ________________________ No. 17-13139 ________________________ D.C. Docket No. 4:15-cv-00170-HLM MAURICE WALKER, on behalf of himself and others similarly situated, Plaintiff - Appellee, versus CITY OF CALHOUN, GA, Defendant - Appellant. ________________________ Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia ________________________ (August 22, 2018) Case: 17-13139 Date Filed: 08/22/2018 Page: 2 of 75 Before MARTIN, JULIE CARNES, and O’SCANNLAIN, * Circuit Judges. O’SCANNLAIN, Circuit Judge: We must decide what process the Constitution requires in setting bail for indigent arrestees. I A When this lawsuit began, Maurice Walker was a 54-year-old unemployed man with a mental health disability, whose income consisted only of $530 in monthly Social Security disability payments. On Thursday, September 3, 2015, Walker was arrested in the City of Calhoun, Georgia by the Calhoun Police Department for being a pedestrian under the influence of alcohol, in violation of Ga. Code Ann. § 40-6-95. A violation of that section of Georgia’s code “is a misdemeanor and is punishable upon conviction by a fine not to exceed $500.00.” The statute does not provide for any possible jail sentence. Walker alleges that, after he was taken to jail, he was told by an officer that “he would not be released unless he paid the standard $160 cash bond” required for those charged with being a pedestrian under the influence. Walker says that * Honorable Diarmuid F. O’Scannlain, United States Circuit Judge for the Ninth Circuit, sitting by designation. 2 Case: 17-13139 Date Filed: 08/22/2018 Page: 3 of 75 neither he nor his family had enough money to post the bond. Walker alleges that while he was jailed, he was not given his necessary mental disorder medication, and he was confined to a single-person cell except for one hour each day. Walker filed this suit five days after his arrest, while still detained, alleging on behalf of himself and a class of similarly situated indigent arrestees that the City was violating the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution by “jailing the poor because they cannot pay a small amount of money.” On the day after filing suit Walker was released on a personal-recognizance bond by agreement with the City’s counsel. A bond was subsequently tendered for Walker by one of his attorneys in this matter, and his criminal case was closed on October 20, 2015, by entry of a bond forfeiture. B Walker alleges that, at the time of his arrest, the City followed a policy of using a secured-money bail schedule with bond amounts based on the fine an arrestee could expect to pay if found guilty, plus applicable fees. Defendants who could afford to deposit the bail amount were released immediately, whereas those who could not pay were held until the next court session on the following non- holiday Monday. In Walker’s case, because the Monday after his arrest was Labor 3 Case: 17-13139 Date ...
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