This is The Marshall Project’s Closing Argument newsletter, a weekly deep dive into a key criminal justice issue. Want this delivered to your inbox? Subscribe to future newsletters here. For decades, Louisiana had the nation’s highest rate of incarceration. And — given that the U.S. is among the most carceral countries on the planet — …
Credit: Grant Blankenship/GPB News Section Branding Header Content Georgia prisons are full and understaffed. Families of the incarcerated want that message heard Primary Content There are now almost 51,000 people incarcerated by the state of Georgia. That’s the highest number in 15 years. Meanwhile, the number of Georgia correctional officers is at its lowest this …
The medical provider for the Georgia prison system backed out of its contract with the Department of Corrections last year after incurring more than $30 million in unanticipated costs, most due to the rampant violence in the state’s prisons, records obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution show. Wellpath, based in Nashville, Tenn, provided no clues for …
Prison system failures cost Georgia taxpayers millions Since 2018, the state has paid out nearly $20 million to settle claims involving death or injury to prisoners in facilities operated by the Georgia Department of Corrections. The cases involve a range of allegations, including improper medical care, the failure to protect prisoners from violent attacks and …
Opinion: Corrections chief: Georgia’s making progress on prison safety Editor’s note: This opinion piece resulted from a request the AJC made to the office of Gov. Brian Kemp, asking them to respond to an opinion piece about prison conditions written by a group of inmates that is also appearing today on ajc.com/opinion. When I was …
When Andrew Phillips took a job as a corrections officer at Georgia’s Smith State Prison in 2021, he was desperate for work. Shortly after he started, he noticed a problem. The prison housed about 1,500 men, and each shift was supposed to have 30 officers to guard them, but most days there were half that, …
The man who pulled off an astounding multi-million dollar heist from inside Georgia’s toughest state prison was sentenced Friday to more than 11 years in federal prison. In imposing the sentence of 135 months, U.S. District Court Judge Steve Jones also ordered Arthur Lee Cofield Jr. to pay more than $12.5 million in restitution — …
Opinion: Georgia must fix prison corruption crisis On the face of it, the mission of the Georgia Department of Corrections seems simple enough: “To protect Georgians by operating secure facilities and providing opportunities for offender rehabilitation.” But, as our investigation has revealed, the very opposite is happening. The department – and the state that funds …
As the Georgia Department of Corrections has seen record numbers of deaths from homicides, suicides and drug overdoses since 2020, it has tightened its grip on information about its prisons.Two such efforts made headlines. For six months, the GDC fought a subpoena from the U.S. Department of Justice for records related to the government’s investigation …
Listen Listening… / GPB’s Peter Biello speaks with Brian Randolph, executive director of the Human and Civil Rights Coalition of Georgia, who has been tracking reports of deaths of incarcerated people. By: Listen Listening… LISTEN: GPB’s Grant Blankenship reports on the latest number of prison deaths from the Georgia Department of Corrections. — In the …