Latest GDC News

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 ... <p class="read-more-container"><a title="Broken Buildings, Broken People" class="read-more button" href="https://gps.press/gps-news/broken-buildings-broken-people/#more-6640" aria-label="Read more about Broken Buildings, Broken People">Read more</a></p>

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 ... <p class="read-more-container"><a title="Imprisoned People Can Do More than ‘Scare’ Kids ‘Straight’" class="read-more button" href="https://gps.press/gps-news/imprisoned-people-can-do-more-than-scare-kids-straight/#more-6645" aria-label="Read more about Imprisoned People Can Do More than ‘Scare’ Kids ‘Straight’">Read more</a></p>

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 ... <p class="read-more-container"><a title="How Prison Dog-Training Programs Transform Lives" class="read-more button" href="https://gps.press/gps-news/how-prison-dog-training-programs-transform-lives/#more-6652" aria-label="Read more about How Prison Dog-Training Programs Transform Lives">Read more</a></p>

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, ... <p class="read-more-container"><a title="How ‘Bankruptcy’ Lets Private Prison Contractors Evade Accountability" class="read-more button" href="https://gps.press/gps-news/how-bankruptcy-lets-private-prison-contractors-evade-accountability/#more-6662" aria-label="Read more about How ‘Bankruptcy’ Lets Private Prison Contractors Evade Accountability">Read more</a></p>

Credit: Sofi Gratas/GPB News Section Branding Header Content Too few guards and too many drones: Georgia prisons leaders alert lawmakers to dangers Primary Content LISTEN: While the number of prison guards in Georgia prisons is at a 15-year low, corrections officials say the number of people incarcerated in the state is at a 15-year high ... <p class="read-more-container"><a title="Too few guards and too many drones: Georgia prisons leaders alert lawmakers to dangers" class="read-more button" href="https://gps.press/gps-news/too-few-guards-and-too-many-drones-georgia-prisons-leaders-alert-lawmakers-to-dangers/#more-7085" aria-label="Read more about Too few guards and too many drones: Georgia prisons leaders alert lawmakers to dangers">Read more</a></p>

Credit: Grant Blankenship/GPB News Section Branding Header Content Gov. Kemp recommends adding $372 million to shore up Georgia prisons Primary Content Gov. Brian Kemp has released his recommendations for strengthening Georgia’s struggling prison system, which include an additional $372 million in state spending. “We do realize and recognize that this is — I don’t know ... <p class="read-more-container"><a title="Gov. Kemp recommends adding $372 million to shore up Georgia prisons – Georgia Public Broadcasting" class="read-more button" href="https://gps.press/gps-news/gov-kemp-recommends-adding-372-million-to-shore-up-georgia-prisons-georgia-public-broadcasting/#more-6686" aria-label="Read more about Gov. Kemp recommends adding $372 million to shore up Georgia prisons – Georgia Public Broadcasting">Read more</a></p>

ATLANTA — Georgia Department of Corrections officials began laying the groundwork Wednesday for an infusion of state funding to beef up staffing, replace aging infrastructure, and improve inmate health care. The state’s workforce of correctional officers plummeted during the COVID pandemic and has yet to fully recover, Georgia Commissioner of Corrections Tyrone Oliver told members ... <p class="read-more-container"><a title="State prisons chief pitches case for funding boost – Georgia Public Broadcasting" class="read-more button" href="https://gps.press/gps-news/state-prisons-chief-pitches-case-for-funding-boost-georgia-public-broadcasting/#more-6687" aria-label="Read more about State prisons chief pitches case for funding boost – Georgia Public Broadcasting">Read more</a></p>

Credit: Grant Blankenship/GPB News Section Branding Header Content The federal Department of Justice: ‘deliberate indifference’ to violence in Georgia prisons Primary Content LISTEN: After a yearslong investigation, the Department of Justice says violence in Georgia prisons is at a “crisis level.” GPB’s Grant Blankenship reports. In a blistering, just-released report years in the making, the ... <p class="read-more-container"><a title="The federal Department of Justice: ‘deliberate indifference’ to violence in Georgia prisons – Georgia Public Broadcasting" class="read-more button" href="https://gps.press/gps-news/the-federal-department-of-justice-deliberate-indifference-to-violence-in-georgia-prisons-georgia-public-broadcasting/#more-6688" aria-label="Read more about The federal Department of Justice: ‘deliberate indifference’ to violence in Georgia prisons – Georgia Public Broadcasting">Read more</a></p>

Credit: Stanley Dunlap/Georgia Recorder Section Branding Header Content Georgia prisons chief tells state lawmakers drones are smuggling deadly contraband into prisons Primary Content The Georgia Department of Corrections continues to struggle with an onslaught of drones that are being used to deliver contraband, such as drugs, cell phones, and potentially even the firearm used by ... <p class="read-more-container"><a title="Georgia prisons chief tells state lawmakers drones are smuggling deadly contraband into prisons – Georgia Public Broadcasting" class="read-more button" href="https://gps.press/gps-news/georgia-prisons-chief-tells-state-lawmakers-drones-are-smuggling-deadly-contraband-into-prisons-georgia-public-broadcasting/#more-6689" aria-label="Read more about Georgia prisons chief tells state lawmakers drones are smuggling deadly contraband into prisons – Georgia Public Broadcasting">Read more</a></p>

Several U.S. states, including Pennsylvania and California, are piloting or expanding prison units modeled on Nordic approaches that prioritize rehabilitation over punishment, featuring elements like plants, fish tanks, and vocational training. Pennsylvania announced it will expand its “Little Scandinavia” unit from SCI Chester to three additional facilities after a study showed only one physical altercation ... <p class="read-more-container"><a title="Fish Tanks, Plants and Podcast Studios — Some States Try a New Approach to Incarceration" class="read-more button" href="https://gps.press/gps-news/#more-10782" aria-label="Read more about Fish Tanks, Plants and Podcast Studios — Some States Try a New Approach to Incarceration">Read more</a></p>

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? Sign up for future newsletters. The food on the trays doesn’t even look like food. In photos smuggled out of Georgia’s prisons, what passes for a meal is either grossly inadequate ... <p class="read-more-container"><a title="Rats, Insects and Mold: How Bad Food Leaves Prisoners Hungry and Sick" class="read-more button" href="https://gps.press/gps-news/rats-insects-and-mold-how-bad-food-leaves-prisoners-hungry-and-sick/#more-10444" aria-label="Read more about Rats, Insects and Mold: How Bad Food Leaves Prisoners Hungry and Sick">Read more</a></p>

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 — ... <p class="read-more-container"><a title="Crime Laws: How Louisiana, Georgia, Other States Embrace ‘Tough-on-Crime" class="read-more button" href="https://gps.press/gps-news/crime-laws-how-louisiana-georgia-other-states-embrace-tough-on-crime/#more-6772" aria-label="Read more about Crime Laws: How Louisiana, Georgia, Other States Embrace ‘Tough-on-Crime">Read more</a></p>

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, ... <p class="read-more-container"><a title="Data Reveals Prison Crisis: More Prisoners, Fewer Correctional Officers" class="read-more button" href="https://gps.press/gps-news/data-reveals-prison-crisis-more-prisoners-fewer-correctional-officers/#more-6770" aria-label="Read more about Data Reveals Prison Crisis: More Prisoners, Fewer Correctional Officers">Read more</a></p>

At a Georgia state House of Representatives hearing on prison conditions in September, a corrections officer called in to testify, interrupting his shift to tell lawmakers how dire conditions had become. On a “good day,” he told lawmakers, he had maybe six or seven officers to supervise roughly 1,200 people. He said he had recently ... <p class="read-more-container"><a title="As Corrections Officers Quit in Droves, Prisons Get Even More Dangerous" class="read-more button" href="https://gps.press/gps-news/as-corrections-officers-quit-in-droves-prisons-get-even-more-dangerous/#more-6771" aria-label="Read more about As Corrections Officers Quit in Droves, Prisons Get Even More Dangerous">Read more</a></p>

2. Georgia Correctional Industries (GCI) Commercial Revenue The GDC runs a legally distinct, self-sustaining corporate arm called Georgia Correctional Industries (GCI). GCI utilizes unpaid or heavily subsidized inmate labor to manufacture commercial goods. Looking past the clean ledgers, federal and state law enforcement investigations have established that a significant amount of cash moves through the ... <p class="read-more-container"><a title="Behind The Wall: The Shadow Ledger of the Georgia Department of Corrections: Who Really Gets Paid?" class="read-more button" href="https://gps.press/gps-news/#more-10814" aria-label="Read more about Behind The Wall: The Shadow Ledger of the Georgia Department of Corrections: Who Really Gets Paid?">Read more</a></p>

An inmate at Augusta State Medical Prison died on May 22, according to the Georgia Department of Corrections. The deceased, 23-year-old Jacobi Chomicki, was serving a 15-year sentence for kidnapping out of Gwinnett County. His cause of death is undetermined, and his body has been turned over to the Richmond County Coroner’s Office for transport ... <p class="read-more-container"><a title="Inmate dies at Augusta State Medical Prison, officials say – WRDW" class="read-more button" href="https://gps.press/gps-news/#more-10788" aria-label="Read more about Inmate dies at Augusta State Medical Prison, officials say – WRDW">Read more</a></p>

An inmate at Ware State Prison in South Georgia, Kojack Thomas Jr., 27, was pronounced dead on May 31 in what the Georgia Department of Corrections (GDC) is investigating as a potential homicide. Thomas had been convicted of murder in Dodge County for his role in the 2018 robbery and killing of an elderly couple ... <p class="read-more-container"><a title="Inmate convicted of murder in Central Georgia killed in potential homicide in South Georgia prison, GDC says – 13WMAZ" class="read-more button" href="https://gps.press/gps-news/#more-10785" aria-label="Read more about Inmate convicted of murder in Central Georgia killed in potential homicide in South Georgia prison, GDC says – 13WMAZ">Read more</a></p>

A 2025 Department of Justice investigation concluded that conditions in Georgia’s state prisons violate the Eighth Amendment, citing systemic violence, decay, and staff shortages. The report documented 142 homicides from 2018 to 2023 and 150 inmate suicides from 2018 to 2022. Georgia Department of Corrections Commissioner Tyrone Oliver dismissed these deaths, stating, “One is bad. ... <p class="read-more-container"><a title="Georgia’s prison crisis is no accident" class="read-more button" href="https://gps.press/gps-news/#more-10778" aria-label="Read more about Georgia’s prison crisis is no accident">Read more</a></p>

Add Us On GoogleAdd as a preferred source on Google AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – A inmate at the Augusta State Medical Prison has died, according to authorities. Officials with the Georgia Department of Corrections say 23-year-old Jacobi Chomicki died on May 22. His cause of death is undetermined at this time, according to officials. Chomicki’s ... <p class="read-more-container"><a title="Inmate dies at Augusta State Medical Prison, officials say – WRDW" class="read-more button" href="https://gps.press/gps-news/#more-10777" aria-label="Read more about Inmate dies at Augusta State Medical Prison, officials say – WRDW">Read more</a></p>

Georgia prisoner strike comes out of lockdown By Guest Blogger / December 16, 2010 Share on Twitter Submit to Reddit Share on Facebook More Linkedin Share on Google+ Share via Email By Kung Li Georgia prisoners came out of their cells today, ending the lockdown phase of the largest prison work strike in U.S. history. ... <p class="read-more-container"><a title="Georgia prisoner strike comes out of lockdown" class="read-more button" href="https://gps.press/gps-news/georgia-prisoner-strike-comes-out-of-lockdown/#more-6762" aria-label="Read more about Georgia prisoner strike comes out of lockdown">Read more</a></p>

Georgia Prisoners’ Strike: “We locked ourselves down.” In a protest that appears to be spreading through Georgia’s prison system, inmates are striking for better conditions. One interesting facet of this rare prison strike, which reaches across multiple facilities and across racial and factional lines, is the participants’ use of self-imposed lockdown to serve their own ... <p class="read-more-container"><a title="Georgia Prisoners’ Strike: “We locked ourselves down.”" class="read-more button" href="https://gps.press/gps-news/georgia-prisoners-strike-we-locked-ourselves-down/#more-6763" aria-label="Read more about Georgia Prisoners’ Strike: “We locked ourselves down.”">Read more</a></p>

Last week a diverse group of nonviolent protesters across Georgia stood up for their rights, calling for decent wages, better social services and respect for their civil liberties. It didn’t take long for the government to crack down on the demonstrations, however: the protesters were already in prison. The uprising of Georgia inmates on December ... <p class="read-more-container"><a title="Georgia Prison Strike: A Hidden Labor Force Resists" class="read-more button" href="https://gps.press/gps-news/georgia-prison-strike-a-hidden-labor-force-resists/#more-6761" aria-label="Read more about Georgia Prison Strike: A Hidden Labor Force Resists">Read more</a></p>