This past week, Black Futurists Group and its coalition members celebrated a major political win. Fulton County officials announced they will no longer proceed with plans to construct a new $2 billion jail, which would have been the most expensive in U.S. history. This decision came after the formation of the Fulton County coalition, Community Over Cages, last month. Coalition partners include The Legal Action Center, Women on the Rise, Color of Change, Southern Center for Human Rights, and ACLU Georgia.

The jail facility, proposed on December 6, 2023, was to be 1.8 million square feet, four times larger than the current jail, and would have increased operational costs by 25% over the next five years. After months of advocacy from residents, lawyers, and organizers, county commissioners voted 4-3 to renovate the existing facility for $300 million instead of building the new one.

Fulton County residents widely opposed the new facility, believing it would perpetuate inequality. A 2024 poll by The African American Research Collaboration (AARC) found that 3 in 4 voters believed the existing jail was overcrowded, primarily individuals committing low-level petty crimes or suffering from unaddressed health needs. Over half felt overcrowding was due to unaffordable bail expenses.

Data supports these sentiments. A Prison Policy report, funded by Communities Over Cages, shows a 43% decline in crime in Fulton County over the past decade and 1,000 fewer inmates than last year. Despite Black residents comprising only about half of the county’s population, 9 in 10 inmates are Black.

Fulton County has the 6th highest level of pretrial arrests and the 17th highest in the nation, indicating many inmates are detained due to lack of bail funds. Those living in poverty, the unhoused, and individuals with unmet mental health challenges are over-represented in the jail. Mentally ill inmates are incarcerated three months longer than those without mental health issues on average.

The decision to forgo the new jail in favor of renovating the existing facility is a crucial step in the right direction, but much work remains for comprehensive reform. The Communities Over Cages Coalition is pushing for the jail’s closure, envisioning a space that addresses the root causes of incarceration.

The proposal includes a rooftop garden or performing arts center, a reentry support hub, a solar panel training program, a wellness clinic, entrepreneurial programs for formerly incarcerated women, childcare and parenting supports, a 24-hour crisis center, community gathering spaces, justice-focused non-profit offices, and creative art studios.