Georgia

Georgia Prisoners Can Be Denied Vital Halfway House Placement Due to Medical Conditions

Placement in a halfway house can significantly improve someone’s chances of reintegrating into society after prison. But numerous people imprisoned in Georgia told The Appeal that they were denied access to the state’s transitional housing programs because of their medical conditions.

C. Dreams Sep 25, 2023

America’s Most Notorious Jail Keeps Getting Worse

A horrific death and the high-profile booking of former President Donald Trump propelled Georgia’s Fulton County Jail into the national spotlight. But heightened scrutiny has done nothing to improve conditions.

Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg Sep 13, 2023

Cop City Protesters Hit With RICO Charges in Latest Act of Political Repression

Organizers with the movement say the charges are meant to “send the chilling message that any dissent to Cop City will be punished with the full power and violence of the government.”

Meg O'Connor Sep 05, 2023

Atlanta Voters Want to Decide the Future of Cop City. Will Their Leaders Let Them?

Organizers say they’ve collected thousands of signatures for a referendum to put Cop City on the November ballot. But local officials seem intent on making sure it doesn’t reach a vote.

Aja Arnold Jul 27, 2023

Georgia Jail Medical Staff Failed to Treat Man While Tumor Slowly Killed Him: Lawsuit

Gwinnett County Jail’s for-profit health provider NaphCare has been sued more than 100 times for malpractice and neglect.

Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg Jun 08, 2023

I Couldn’t Afford to Call My Mother Before She Died. Georgia Forbids Imprisoned People from Working.

JShawn Guess recounts how being unable to earn money while in prison led to him missing out on his final moments with his mom.

JShawn Guess May 10, 2023

Georgia Man Begged for Medical Care for Months Before Dying in Jail, Report Finds

An official investigation released this week concluded that “medical neglect” contributed to Alan Willison’s death at the Clayton County Jail in January, just a week after his cancer dianosis.

Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg Apr 12, 2023

Behind Georgia’s Authoritarian Crackdown on ‘Stop Cop City’ Protests

At least 42 people have been charged with “domestic terrorism” under the state’s wide-ranging statute. Legal experts are calling it a “sloppy” and unprecedented attack on constitutional rights to free speech and protest.

Aja Arnold Apr 03, 2023

Georgia’s Backslide Into a Carceral Hellscape

A wave of bills threatens to channel more people toward incarceration, mete out longer prison terms, and limit prosecutors’ discretion.

Anna Simonton Mar 29, 2023

Georgia Jail Detainees Say Their Lives Are at Stake Ahead of Key Sheriff’s Election

With a special election for Clayton County sheriff coming up next week, people detained at the county’s scandal-plagued jail are speaking out about horrific conditions.

Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg Mar 13, 2023

Georgia Sheriff Stonewalling Official Jail Death Investigation, Medical Examiner Says

The Clayton County Sheriff’s Office is refusing to share information about in-custody deaths with the medical examiner’s office, which is responsible for conducting investigations.

Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg Mar 10, 2023

Georgia Prison Crisis Worsens Amid Federal Investigations

More than six years into DOJ probes, the conditions inside Georgia prisons have only further deteriorated.

C. Dreams, Aja Arnold Feb 01, 2023

This photo shows a man's hand holding onto a chain-link fence. His face is not shown.

How Georgia’s Sex Offender Registry Traps People in Debt and Homelessness

I was arrested in 2011 after engaging in sex work to survive and later forced to register as a sex offender. Since then, social stigma, footage laws, and crushing monthly court debts have made it difficult to get back on my own two feet and succeed after prison.

Christina Lynch Dec 08, 2022

Internal Report Details Severely Malnourished Detainees at Atlanta-Area Jail

The facility’s medical provider described people with mental illness wasting away in a unit overrun by an outbreak of lice and scabies.

Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg Nov 17, 2022

A white cruise ship sets sail away from Tampa Bay. The Tampa skyline stands in the background. It is a sunny day. The photo is taken from afar.

Sheriffs Offered Caribbean Cruises and Florida Retreats as Part of Jail Telecom Contracts

Smart Communications, a for-profit Florida company that sells phone, videochat, and email-like services to prisons and jails, told at least one sheriff’s department that it can live “the resort life” on a trip to Florida.

Hayden Betts Oct 17, 2022

Fulton County Sheriff Patrick Labat stands at a lectern giving a speech

Nearly Half the People at Crowded Atlanta Jail Haven’t Been Formally Charged With a Crime, ACLU Says

Fulton County Sheriff Patrick Labat says the county needs more jail beds to fix the jail’s crisis. But a new ACLU report says that significant numbers of people in the jail can be released.

Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg Oct 12, 2022

Stacey Abrams’ Bold New Idea is to Tack to the Center

Stacey Abrams wants to give police officers raises. Time and again, Democrats have reacted to calls for racial justice by giving more money to cops.

Nneka Ewulonu Jul 20, 2022

‘I Did Not Shake My Son’: Is a Father Serving Life for a Crime That Never Occurred?

Expert says trauma from childbirth, not shaking, led to the death of Danyel Smith’s two-month-old child.

Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg Jun 06, 2022

Rodney Young (rear) in a Halloween costume.

Georgia’s Unique Death Penalty Law Is Killing the Mentally Disabled

Georgia is the strictest state in America when it comes to proving intellectual disability in capital cases. This month, the Supreme Court could save the life of a man who says he is mentally disabled—or let the state kill him.

Lauren Gill Feb 23, 2022

Why Atlantans Are Pushing to Stop ‘Cop City’

After the city council passed the ground lease for massive police facility known as “Cop City,” local opposition hasn’t ceased; it’s evolved.

Aja Arnold Dec 08, 2021

Democrats’ Win in Georgia Shows What Voters Really Want From Government

It’s time for political leaders, no matter their party, to listen to voters—and provide financial relief from the pandemic.

Emily Galvin-Almanza, Sean McElwee, Ethan Winter Jan 06, 2021

The Future of Voting Rights Is at Stake in the Georgia Runoffs

By winning a narrow majority in the upper chamber, Democrats could at last stop the Republican assault on voting rights—if its centrist members have the courage to do so.

Jay Willis Dec 18, 2020

A Voter’s Guide To Georgia’s Runoff Election

Control of the U.S. Senate hinges on the results of next month’s runoff.

Dawn Milam Dec 02, 2020

‘Democracy Pressure-Tested’: Voter Suppression Efforts Underway As Election Nears

Efforts by elected leaders in several states are making it harder to get to the polls and fomenting misinformation about the election amid a pandemic.

Joshua Vaughn Oct 21, 2020

Criminal Justice Advocates Say New Law Undermines Georgia’s Efforts at Bail Reform

The law, known as SB 402, eliminates the use of signature bonds for a number of felonies, putting poor people who might not be able to afford cash bail at a disadvantage.

Victoria Law Aug 12, 2020

Prisoners Inside Georgia’s Clayton County Jail Describe Desperate Efforts To Avoid COVID-19

They shared their stories as part of a lawsuit seeking urgent changes to protect prisoners. One prisoner wrote that a jail officer denied his request for a mask, so he tied old underwear around his face.

Lauren Gill Aug 07, 2020

Georgia Budget Cuts Threaten Prisoners’ Ability To Challenge Convictions

Citing the pandemic, state legislators asked all agencies to trim their budgets. The cuts could eliminate positions for public defenders who can show a trial or sentence was unjust, overturn convictions, or reduce a person’s time.

Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg Jun 24, 2020

Atlanta’s Mayor Wants $13 Million More For Police. Four Officers Were Just Fired For Using Excessive Force.

Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms has asked for the budget increase amid ongoing local and national reports of police violence against protesters.

Ko Bragg Jun 11, 2020

Advocates Push For Details On Georgia’s Response To COVID-19 In Prisons and Jails

‘Our state and local officials have a responsibility to not endanger those who are under correctional control,’ the ACLU of Georgia’s executive director said.

Lauren Gill May 08, 2020

Five Jurists Said Donnie Lance Deserved a New Sentence. Georgia Executed Him Anyway.

Three Supreme Court justices and others said competent counsel could have saved his life.

Kyle C. Barry Jan 30, 2020

Georgia Governor Brian Kemp Wants to Slash Public Defender Funding By $3 Million

Advocates warn that the cuts could push an already overburdened system to the breaking point.

Jay Willis Jan 22, 2020

Man Spared From Execution After Rare Clemency Grant

It’s the first time since 2014 that someone on Georgia’s death row has been granted clemency.

Braden Goyette Jan 16, 2020

What Is The Purpose of Sex Offense Registries?

Spotlights like this one provide original commentary and analysis on pressing criminal justice issues of the day. You can read them each day in our newsletter, The Daily Appeal. Two days ago, the Union-Recorder in Georgia published a bizarre editorial. The editorial board noted that the state’s sex offender registry system drives people into homelessness and deprived […]

Sarah Lustbader Dec 10, 2019