A question circulating on social media asks whether the Georgia Department of Corrections takes out life insurance policies on inmates and profits when they die. It’s an understandable suspicion given the record deaths in Georgia prisons — but there’s no evidence this is happening.
Where This Theory Comes From
This claim likely stems from the real “dead peasant insurance” scandal of the early 2000s. Corporations like Walmart secretly purchased life insurance policies on low-wage employees and collected millions when they died. Walmart alone took out over 300,000 such policies and collected $81 million in death benefits — without employees or families knowing. That practice was largely eliminated by the Pension Protection Act of 2006 after public outrage and class-action lawsuits.
However, no evidence exists that any state corrections department has ever done this with prisoners.
Why This Wouldn’t Work
Legal barriers exist. Insurance requires an “insurable interest” — a legitimate financial stake in someone’s survival. Courts have held that employment creates insurable interest; incarceration does not. A government agency has no legal basis to insure people it holds in custody.
Insurance companies won’t write these policies. Insurers classify prisoners as extremely high-risk and largely refuse coverage. The premiums on 50,000 high-risk inmates would far exceed any potential payout.
State finances face audits. Insurance proceeds would appear somewhere in the budget. No audit, lawsuit, open records request, or investigative report has ever uncovered such a program in Georgia or elsewhere.
The Real Scandal Needs No Conspiracy
The documented reality is damning enough. The U.S. Department of Justice found Georgia prisons in constitutional violation in October 2024, citing:
- 66 inmate homicides in 2024
- Staff vacancy rates exceeding 56%
- Facilities operating at over 200% capacity
- Rampant sexual assault and gang control
- “Deliberate indifference” to violence
The state saves money through documented neglect — food budgets under $2 per day, collapsing medical care, chronic understaffing that leaves entire housing units unmonitored. No secret insurance scheme required.
Focus on What’s Proven
When families and advocates focus on unverified theories, it diverts energy from documented abuses that demand accountability. GDC has been caught falsifying documents, backdating records, and presenting misleading information to federal investigators and state lawmakers. That deception is real and provable.
The truth about Georgia’s prisons is horrific enough without speculation. Stick to what we can prove — and keep demanding answers.