Smuggling cases at Georgia prison fizzle: Drugs were never tested The arrests created headlines throughout Georgia and even beyond. Two young female correctional officers showed up for their shifts at Calhoun State Prison in South Georgia with suspicious-looking Hot Pockets packages. When the packages were examined, the arrest warrants would later allege, they were found …
Voices Donald Tong / Pexels Nick Hacheney, Tomas KeenMay 20, 2025 Share Copy Link Email Facebook Twitter Bluesky WhatsApp Reddit LinkedIn Jerry stormed into his cell, shaking with rage. He threw his coat and gloves in a pile on his bunk and looked around for something to smash. It’s futile, and he knows it. The …
More than $600M to overhaul a prison system in crisis. But it’s just the start Top Georgia lawmakers acknowledged during this year’s legislative session that costly steps were needed to deal with a prison system operating in crisis mode, and they acted accordingly. The state House and Senate approved most of what Gov. Brian Kemp …
Fifaliana Joy via Pixabay Antoine Davis, Christopher BlackwellMay 07, 2025 Share Copy Link Email Facebook Twitter Bluesky WhatsApp Reddit LinkedIn In 1978, the Oscar-winning documentary “Scared Straight!” popularized the idea that the best way to prevent young people from incarceration is to scare them. The film focuses on a group of “juvenile delinquents” who get …
Newsletter Andy Luo / Unsplash Aaron Edward Olson and Randy BrennanApr 09, 2025 Share Copy Link Email Facebook Twitter Bluesky WhatsApp Reddit LinkedIn Prisons are designed for control, not compassion. Rows of razor wire, towering walls, and unyielding steel doors remind us we’re meant to be forgotten. For those of us serving life and long …
…a break with Kemp, the House would spend far less on a private school voucher program the General Assembly created last year. Kemp proposed spending $141 million in the program’s…
Newsletter Melinda Gimpel / Unsplash Devontae TorrienteFeb 26, 2025 Share Copy Link Email Facebook Twitter Bluesky WhatsApp Reddit LinkedIn Private jail medical contractors have made a business out of avoiding consequences for civil rights violations. They offer local governments inexpensive, substandard medical care for their jails and then find creative ways to avoid litigation. Wellpath, …
As state legislators work to craft complex and costly plans to fix Georgia’s troubled prison system, they may face an extra challenge: Conditions inside the wire appear to be getting even worse. Thirteen prison deaths from Jan. 1 to Feb. 4 are being investigated as homicides, prison officials told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. That’s an extraordinarily …
Two prisoners at Hancock State Prison were found dead just feet apart after gang-related violence erupted Thursday at one of the most poorly staffed prisons in Georgia. The bodies of William Holeman, 34, and Prince Porter, 38, were found in the same dorm about 15-20 feet apart, according to Hancock County Coroner Dontrelle Andrews, who …
Staffing vacancies for correctional officers at 20 of Georgia’s 34 prisons have reached “emergency levels,” making it impossible to keep up with even basic protocols such as routine counts of prisoners, according to consultants hired by Gov. Brian Kemp to evaluate the Department of Corrections. At some prisons, gangs are “effectively running the facilities,” in …