Justice for the Cartersville 70

On Saturday night (December 30th), local teenagers and young adults attended a 21st birthday celebration for one of their friends at a home in Cartersville, GA. The night ended when over 70 of them were taken to jail for what their arrest reports indicate to be possession of less than an ounce of marijuana. Most of these young people were just released yesterday and some are still being held in the Bartow County Jail for "pending" charges or inability to make bail. The Georgia state chapter of the NAACP and the Bartow chapter of the NAACP are involved, as well as attorneys from near and far. Some of these young people need money to make bail and all of them need assistance with their legal fees. A good majority of these individuals are college students and members of the US military who were visiting home over the holiday break, and decided to attend a party to catch up with old friends while in town. Others were working citizens who lost their jobs the second they walked into work this morning. They need your help to bring justice and light to the unjust treatment these individuals experienced leading to and during their incarceration. 

As a previous basketball coach of a few of the young ladies arrested and having relationships with the families of many of those arrested, we plan to use these funds to pay the $620 bond for the final arrestee and work with the families in  in distributing these legal fees to their legal representatives, with the oversight of the Bartow and Georgia NAACP.  One of the mothers of two of the arrested individuals, Mrs. Glinda Heard, will be the beneficiary and will make all withdrawals. She will also be the main contact person/liaison for the parents and individuals with pending cases regarding how the funds will be distributed to designated attorneys and legal fees. Attorney Gerald Griggs is mobilizing with other community activists and attorneys to help these young people.