At 52 years old with no criminal record, she entered county jail thinking it was a formality. Two years later, she was released—all charges dropped, but everything lost. Her story exposes the dehumanizing conditions of pretrial detention and her journey from inmate to criminal justice advocate.
Working in Telfair’s tier unit during a sweltering July, I witnessed an act of deliberate cruelty I’ll never forget. The Unit Manager intentionally turned on the heat in cells already baking from metal-plated windows, telling staff these men were ‘supposed to be punished.’ That same officer now runs Georgia’s largest prison.
Georgia’s prison phone crackdown spent years failing to stop $1.5 million in scams at a single prison — before and after MAS arrived. The $50M blocking system is deaf by design. Georgia already has the hardware, the law, and the precedent to monitor instead. The Commissioner needs to make one decision.
Georgia is the only state where unconfirmed field drug tests can convict. Colorado just banned arrests based on these $2 tests — unanimously. Here’s how advocates can bring that reform to Georgia.
Georgia is the only state where unconfirmed $2 field drug tests can convict someone at trial. Colorado just unanimously banned arrests based on these tests. An estimated 961 Georgians are falsely arrested annually.
Georgia is the only state where a $2 field drug test can sustain a conviction at trial. Colorado just showed — unanimously — how to fix it. A zero-cost reform could protect 961 Georgians falsely arrested each year.
Georgia is the only state where a $2 roadside drug test can convict someone. These tests get it wrong up to 38% of the time. Colorado just banned test-only arrests. Georgia must follow.
Ronald Allen asked for insulated gloves before handling frozen beef patties at GDCP. He got two pairs of disposable ones. Eight weeks of medical neglect later — a doctor who never examined him — Allen lost his dominant hand. His lawsuit names 12 defendants including Commissioner Oliver.
A federal jury awarded $307.6 million to a former Michigan prisoner whose healthcare contractor denied him a colostomy reversal surgery to save money. The verdict in Jackson v. Corizon Health puts the entire for-profit prison healthcare industry on notice — including companies operating in Georgia.
Georgia spent $50 million deploying phone-blocking technology at 35 prisons. Homicides quadrupled. At every facility where GPS confirmed activation dates, violence erupted within weeks. The crackdown isn’t stopping crime — it’s destabilizing the power structures that kept people alive.