A group of Atlanta residents is petitioning for the city to reopen its municipal court so it can handle the growing number of cases associated with street racing.
The Change.org petition, which was started by the Midtown Neighbors' Association and had nearly 1,500 signatures Thursday morning, states that penalizing offenders would lead to a drop in street racing on Atlanta’s roads.
Atlanta police have made nearly 500 arrests this year in connection with street racing, which often involves drivers loudly driving in tight circles amidst a cheering crowd on weekend nights. But those cases are largely not moving forward while Atlanta’s Municipal Court is closed due to the pandemic.
In recent months, residents in Buckhead, Midtown and downtown have grown increasingly worried about safety and noise associated with street racing, urging city officials to take more aggressive action.
“In order for offenders to answer to the citations, the courts must be open,” the petition states. “Without the adjudication of the citations, offenders are undeterred from continuing this behavior and they will continue to plague our city with noise, damage to property, and the very serious threat to public safety on the roadways.”
APD’s interim Chief Rodney Bryant recently told City Council members he believes the court’s closure is one reason street racing hasn’t subsided, even as officers ramped up enforcement and changed their tactics to combat the issue.
Atlanta Municipal Court Chief Judge Christopher Portis said during a council committee meeting earlier this week that there is no set date for when the court might reopen. Before the pandemic, Atlanta’s court would sometimes handles dozens of minor cases in one session, with many people packed in one room.
Portis said he and other court officials are still exploring ways to safety reopen the facility amid COVID-19.
“What we don’t want is to have a situation like what’s been happening in several of the courts around the state,” he said, referencing coronavirus cases in area courthouses. Confirmed coronavirus cases have been rising in Fulton County over the last several weeks, according to the Georgia Department of Health; it is now an “emerging county of interest” for COVID cases.
The petition also urges the court to prioritize cases that involve street racing. Police said street-racing offenses can result in up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine.
“We can not continue to expect the Atlanta Police Department and the Georgia State Patrol to get this issue under control without the equal arm of our judicial branch in line to adjudicate the citations,” it states.
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