Former Atlanta Mayor Bill Campbell Off To Jail - No Appeal Bond

The Atlanta Jrl Constitution reports here and Washington Post (AP) reports here that former Mayor Bill Campbell's Motion for an Appeal Bond was denied. This means he will go to prison while his appeal is pending.

Who gets an appeal bond and who doesn't?  It is always a fascinating question to see, especially in the white collar crime cases.  In some cases the appellate court will issue a release even before a decision is ordered. (See post here regarding the appellate court suddenly giving a defendant in the Enron Barge case an appeal bond that had previously been denied)

Some of those who were allowed to stay out on bond pending their appeal are: Martha Stewart (who decided to go ahead and serve her sentence); Bernie Ebbers (see post here - who just had his conviction upheld on appeal); John and Timothy Rigas (see post here);

Some of those who were not allowed to stay out on bond pending their appeal are: Jamie Olis (sentence reversed and new sentence not issued to date); Kozlowski and Swartz (see post here -but they were in the state system)

Although I have done no study to see if white collar offenders are given appeal bonds more often than street offenders, my gut feeling is that there might be a higher percentage in the white collar cases.  After all, the chances that a street offender would get an appeal bond in a case they received a sentence of 25 years (Bernie Ebbers) seems highly unlikely.  But as I previously noted, this difference may be warranted.  There is little chance that the white collar offender will harm someone, especially since they usually are no longer in a position of power to do any harm.  Unlike the person who commits a street crime, incapacitation is not needed here.   The key legally, however, is showing the court that there is a significant issue being raised on appeal.

(esp)