Georgia’s Chief Justice admits the post-conviction system is “broken.” But the IAC trap is just one lock on the door. Combined with the unconstitutional 4-year habeas deadline, no right to counsel, and restricted legal access, Georgia has built a machine that keeps thousands — including an estimated 2,600 to 5,275 innocent people — locked inside its deadliest prisons.
Georgia is building the first centralized prison surveillance command center in American corrections — the OWL Unit — integrating cameras, drones, body cams, health records, and cell phone interdiction into one hub. The $150M+ system has no public oversight, no privacy analysis, and no equivalent in any other state. GPS investigates.
GDC’s own statistics report 301 people died while serving state sentences in 2025. But the official mortality name list contains only 295 names. When GPS asked who the six missing people were, GDC responded with bureaucratic doublespeak — and a bill.
Georgia’s Survivor Justice Act (HB 582) gives incarcerated domestic violence survivors the right to petition for resentencing. This guide explains who qualifies, how the process works, where to find free legal help, and how to build the strongest possible petition. Over 100 women in Georgia prisons could be eligible.
Georgia already solved its prison crisis once. Governor Deal’s reforms cut the prison population 6%, saved $264 million, and didn’t increase crime. Then Governor Kemp reversed course, adding $700 million in spending while every outcome worsened. The math is on legislators’ desks. Will they choose what works?
Two federal judges. The U.S. Department of Justice. State legislators. A U.S. Senator. The press. Georgia’s Department of Corrections has stonewalled, obstructed, deceived, or defied every institution meant to hold it accountable — and paid no price. GPS traces the documented pattern.
GPS investigates Pulaski State Prison under Warden Wendy Jackson, tracing how an untested leader inherited a facility scarred by decades of lethal medical neglect, gang violence, sexual assault, and federal findings of unconstitutional conditions — and what families are reporting now.
Christian Krauch was tortured for three weeks at Macon State Prison in June 2024 — bound, stabbed, burned, and left under a bunk while GDC submitted 168 phantom inmate counts. He lost his right hand and leg to amputation. The state said nothing. No arrests were made.
For 830 years, habeas corpus protected the innocent from unlawful imprisonment—until Georgia destroyed it. The 2004 four-year deadline traps wrongfully convicted people in a prison system that killed 100+ by homicide in 2024. The Great Writ is dead. The innocent are dying with it.
The DOJ told Georgia to separate gang members. Georgia refused. Now 100+ die annually. Arizona cut violence 50% with gang segregation. After the January 2026 Washington SP massacre killed 4, Georgia’s prisons remain on lockdown—but lockdowns don’t stop gang wars. They postpone them. Separate the gangs or keep burying the dead.