Joshua Hamer went to prison for a probation violation. He came out in a body bag. Georgia’s system doesn’t separate violent offenders from people serving time for technical violations. The result: people sentenced to months die within weeks—beaten, stabbed, or left without medical care in facilities designed to kill. 1
The Classification Failure
Georgia’s prison system houses over 50,000 people. The classification system that determines who goes where is broken:
- Non-violent offenders share housing with people serving time for murder
- First-time technical violators enter facilities controlled by organized gangs
- People with mental illness receive no specialized placement
- Low-security designations don’t prevent assignment to high-violence facilities
The DOJ found that Georgia fails to protect prisoners from violence—a constitutional violation. 2 The state knows the risk and places people anyway.
Who’s Actually in Georgia’s Prisons
GPS analysis of 227,000+ GDC records reveals:
- 56.18% violent offenses
- 24.47% “other” offenses—including technical violations
- 10.25% property offenses
- 9.10% drug offenses 3
Nearly half the population has non-violent primary offenses. They’re housed alongside the 56% convicted of violence—in facilities with 100+ homicides in 2024 alone.
The Violence Numbers
Georgia won’t release comprehensive violence data. GPS has documented what we can:
- 100+ homicides in Georgia prisons in 2024
- Homicide rate 32 times higher than the free population
- 1,682 total deaths since 2020
- Death rate 70% higher than national state prison average
The state doesn’t track assaults comprehensively. Families report injuries that never appear in any database.
Why This Happens
Georgia operates at capacity with a 20%+ staff vacancy rate. Classification requires staff. Separation requires beds. Both are in short supply.
The result:
- Non-violent offenders go wherever beds exist
- Gang affiliations aren’t separated
- Mental health designations don’t drive placement
- People die in facilities their sentences never contemplated
Joshua Hamer’s death wasn’t an accident. It was a predictable outcome of systematic failure.
What Families Can Do
If your loved one is in Georgia’s system:
- Know their facility — GPS maintains data on every Georgia institution: GPS Facilities Database
- Document everything — Save letters, note phone call details, track reported conditions
- Report threats immediately — To the facility, to GPS, to the DOJ Civil Rights Division
- Request classification review — Put requests in writing and keep copies
Take Action
Use Impact Justice AI to send advocacy emails demanding classification reform. The free tool crafts personalized messages to Georgia lawmakers and oversight agencies—no experience required.
Contact your state legislators and ask: Why does Georgia house non-violent offenders with people serving time for murder? Why does the classification system ignore risk? How many more people have to die?
Further Reading
- $700 Million More—And Nothing to Show for It
- Forced Criminality: Inside Georgia’s Prison Violence Factory
- Cruel and Unusual Dentistry: Inside Georgia’s Prison Dental Crisis
- GPS Mortality Database
- GPS Facilities Database
About Georgia Prisoners’ Speak (GPS)
Georgia Prisoners’ Speak (GPS) is a nonprofit investigative newsroom built in partnership with incarcerated reporters, families, advocates, and data analysts. Operating independently from the Georgia Department of Corrections, GPS documents the truth the state refuses to acknowledge: extreme violence, fatal medical neglect, gang-controlled dorms, collapsed staffing, fraudulent reporting practices, and unconstitutional conditions across Georgia’s prisons.
Through confidential reporting channels, secure communication, evidence verification, public-records requests, legislative research, and professional investigative standards, GPS provides the transparency the system lacks. Our mission is to expose abuses, protect incarcerated people, support families, and push Georgia toward meaningful reform based on human rights, evidence, and public accountability.
Every article is part of a larger fight — to end the silence, reveal the truth, and demand justice.
