Homeless man was illegally jailed for two months, according to lawyers
ATLANTA A man was arrested for standing at an Atlanta intersection holding a sign reading “homeless please help” and then was illegally jailed for more than two months because he couldn’t afford to pay $200 bail, a legal advocacy group says.
The Southern Center for Human Rights filed a petition Wednesday in Fulton County Superior Court seeking the release of Sean Ramsey. He was released shortly after the petition was filed against Fulton County Sheriff Ted Jackson, who oversees the jail.
Holding someone because he can’t afford to pay a certain amount of money violates the U.S. Constitution, the petition says, adding that he also had not been brought before a judge and was not given access to an attorney.
Sheriff’s office spokeswoman Tracy Flanagan blamed Ramsey’s lengthy detention on a computer software problem that prevented paperwork from getting to the right place. She said in an email Thursday that the office is working to fix it.
Ramsey, 48, was arrested Sept. 19 “without any incident” and was charged with pedestrian soliciting on a roadway, according to a police report included with the filing.
He was taken to the Atlanta city jail and was due to appear in court the next day, but a jail document shows he was not brought before a judge. Next to his name in the document is the notation “unruly.” The municipal court set Ramsey’s bond at $200 in his absence without inquiring whether he had the means to pay, the petition says.
By saying he could be released if he came up with $200, the municipal court implicitly recognized that he was not a flight risk or a dangerous offender, the petition says. And the court was aware that he was indigent as he was arrested for holding a “handmade cardboard sign” reading “homeless please help,” the petition says.
The municipal court judge also transferred his case to Fulton County State Court, and he was moved to the Fulton County jail on Sept. 26. He sat there without a hearing or without being provided an attorney for more than two months.