A Gwinnett County judge has granted a new trial to Danyel Smith, who was convicted more than two decades ago in the shaken-baby death of his 2-month-old son, Chandler. Smith has consistently maintained his innocence, and his defense team has sought to present new evidence they believe could exonerate him. In 2023, Gwinnett prosecutors offered …
A new report from the advocacy group FWD.us estimates that having a loved one in prison or jail costs families across the U.S. nearly $350 billion annually, roughly four times the government’s operating costs for the system. On average, families spend about $4,000 per year on incarcerated relatives for phone calls, travel, and commissary items, …
A Baldwin County grand jury has indicted five men on unrelated sex crime charges, according to records filed in the Baldwin County Superior Court Clerk’s Office. Among the defendants, David Allen Barber faces one count of child molestation and one count of enticing a child for indecent purposes. In a case with a direct Georgia …
There is currently a petition circulating to fire the Commissioner of the Georgia Department of Corrections. Georgia Prisoners’ Speak takes no position on this. There is a crisis in the Georgia prison system. We applaud those wanting change—it’s needed. With certainty, we can tell you what firing the commissioner will not do. It will not …
The Georgia Department of Corrections (GDC) is investigating the death of inmate Kristi Perkins at Pulaski State Prison, with the cause of death currently undetermined. Perkins died on July 12, and officials reported no signs of an altercation or foul play. Her body has been sent to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Crime Lab for …
An inmate at Pulaski State Prison, Monika Bradley, died on July 5, with the cause of death currently undetermined, according to the Georgia Department of Corrections (GDC). The GDC reported no signs of an altercation or foul play. Bradley’s body has been sent to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Crime Lab for an official determination. …
Two inmates at Pulaski State Prison in Georgia died within two weeks of each other, the Georgia Department of Corrections (GDC) confirmed. Inmate Kristi Perkins died on July 12, and inmate Monika Bradley died on July 5. Officials reported no signs of fight or foul play in either death. The GDC stated there was no …
An administrative law judge ruled that Ashley Jordan and Albert Debelbot are eligible for state compensation under Georgia’s Wrongful Conviction and Incarceration Act after spending over 12 years in prison for the 2008 death of their newborn daughter. Judge Ronit Walker of the Office of State Administrative Hearings issued a 41-page opinion finding that the …
A Macon State Prison inmate, Devito Duran Young, was sentenced to 327 months in federal prison for directing a fentanyl and synthetic cannabinoid trafficking scheme from China into Georgia using a contraband cellphone, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Georgia. Young, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute fentanyl, coordinated …
A proposed class-action lawsuit filed in March 2026 alleges that the Tennessee Department of Correction violated the Fifth Amendment’s Takings Clause by confiscating tablets from incarcerated people and failing to transfer purchased digital content—including music, emails, and photographs—after switching tablet vendors from JPay to ViaPath. The complaint states that under the new contract, TDOC receives …