Investigations & Analysis
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In-depth reporting on Georgia’s prison crisis — data-driven investigations, policy analysis, and the stories that need to be told.
315 Gangs, Zero Strategy: How Georgia Abandoned Its Prisons While Other States Found Solutions
Georgia has identified 315 gangs and 15,200 gang-affiliated prisoners — 31% of its population — yet has no separation strategy, no exit program, and no management plan. Texas, Arizona, and California solved this problem decades ago. Georgia chose to do nothing. The death toll proves it...
Every Door Locked: Innocent People Trapped in Georgia Prisons
An estimated 2,500-5,000 innocent people sit in Georgia's prisons with every avenue of relief locked shut. GPS investigation connects three systemic failures — the habeas corpus deadline, absent conviction integrity units, and ignored Supreme Court precedent — and calls on the General Assembly to act before Crossover Day...
Blackstone Is Dead: Georgia Abandoned American Justice
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...
The OWL Sees All: Georgia’s $150M Prison Surveillance
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...
The Six Who Disappeared: Georgia’s Prison Death Cover-Up
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 Survivor Justice Act: Guide for Incarcerated DV Survivors
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...
The Reform That Worked — and the Governor Who Killed It
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?...
Above the Law: GDC Defies Courts, DOJ, and Legislators
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...
Pulaski State Prison Crisis: Untested Warden, Deadly History
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...
Three Weeks Under a Bunk: Torture at Macon State Prison
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...
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