Media Coverage
Latest GDC News
Georgia’s prison system has come under sustained scrutiny from federal investigators, state consultants, and investigative reporters. This page collects recent coverage so readers can follow the crisis — and the push for reform.
For story leads, background briefs, and interview requests, visit our Media Resource Center.
Men live amid darkness, raw sewage at South Georgia prison, group says
Men live amid darkness, raw sewage at South Georgia prison, group says Conditions at one South Georgia prison have become so dysfunctional that men held there live in virtual darkness because so many cells are without working lights as the facility has experienced a rash of preventable deaths, according to a new review by the ...
Georgia needs prison reform and accountability – Facebook
GEORGIA DOESN’T JUST NEED MORE PRISONS. IT NEEDS ACCOUNTABILITY INSIDE THE PRISONS WE ALREADY HAVE. Georgia taxpayers spend enormous amounts of money on corrections. Yet we continue hearing about…
Georgia inmates sentenced for running jury duty phone scam
Georgia inmates sentenced for running jury duty phone scam ALBANY, Ga. – Two Georgia inmates who used contraband cellphones to extortionately trick citizens out of hundreds of thousands of dollars from prison cells have been sentenced to federal prison, officials said. Albany federal court sentencing What we know: Senior U.S. District Judge W. Louis Sands ...
‘Beyond sad’: Georgia’s bad lawyering revealed in legislative study
‘Beyond sad’: Georgia’s bad lawyering revealed in legislative study Unable to afford a lawyer, Georgia inmate Dontravious Mahone was represented by a state-appointed attorney when appealing his convictions for murder and other charges in the death of a young Alpharetta man. It did not go well. In upholding Mahone’s convictions and life sentence earlier this ...
Warrants: Prison-system accounting tech had sex with Central State Prison inmate, illegally gave him food – 13WMAZ
Warrants: Prison-system accounting tech had sex with Central State Prison inmate, illegally gave him food Newly released arrested warrants from the Georgia Department of Corrections are offering new details on the arrest of a prison-system employee on Thursday. According to Bibb County Jail records, 35-year-old Zacarra Oliver — who was an employee of the Georgia ...
Men live amid darkness, raw sewage at South Georgia prison, group says
Men live amid darkness, raw sewage at South Georgia prison, group says Conditions at one South Georgia prison have become so dysfunctional that men held there live in virtual darkness because so many cells are without working lights as the facility has experienced a rash of preventable deaths, according to a new review by the ...
‘Beyond sad’: Georgia’s bad lawyering revealed in legislative study
‘Beyond sad’: Georgia’s bad lawyering revealed in legislative study Unable to afford a lawyer, Georgia inmate Dontravious Mahone was represented by a state-appointed attorney when appealing his convictions for murder and other charges in the death of a young Alpharetta man. It did not go well. In upholding Mahone’s convictions and life sentence earlier this ...
Federal judge questions Georgia’s parole system, lets woman’s lawsuit proceed
Federal judge questions Georgia’s parole system, lets woman’s lawsuit proceed After more than four decades behind bars, Janice Buttrum has been told five times by the state of Georgia that she is not ready for parole. Now, a federal judge says the State Board of Pardons and Parole may never have seriously considered her release ...
Florida sheriff blasts Georgia officials over prisoners’ scams
A Florida sheriff arrested a woman accused of participating in a scam network through Georgia prisons and called for officials to put a stop to the scammers’ operations within the prison system. Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood, in a video posted to social media, said investigators there linked an Atlanta woman and three others to ...
Georgia death row inmate seeks to avoid execution under new law for abuse survivors – AJC.com
Stacey Ian Humphreys, a Georgia death row inmate scheduled for execution this week, has asked a court to reduce his sentence under Georgia’s Survivor Justice Act, according to the AJC. In a Monday filing, Humphreys’ attorneys argued he is eligible for a reduced sentence instead of the death penalty because he was severely abused throughout ...
After More Than 20 Years in Prison, Georgia Man Wins New Trial in “Shaken Baby” Case
A Georgia court has ordered a new trial for Danyel Smith, who was convicted in 2003 of killing his two-month-old son in a case that relied on a Shaken Baby Syndrome (SBS) diagnosis. Gwinnett County Superior Court Judge Kimberly A. Gallant ruled that evolving scientific research on SBS, also known as Abusive Head Trauma, constitutes ...
Incarcerated People Lose Treasured Media When Prisons Change Tablet Contracts
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 ...
Trans People Behind Bars Face Great Risks. Prison Officials Are Making It Worse.
A new article from The Appeal and Truthout reports that incarcerated transgender people face heightened risks of violence and discrimination, with prison policies often exacerbating these dangers. The piece highlights the case of Gia Valentina, a transgender woman in New Jersey who was denied transfer to a women’s prison after undergoing gender-affirming surgery, leaving her ...
A Court Found Conditions at Louisiana’s Prison Farm Unconstitutional. It Let Them Continue Anyway.
A federal judge ruled that conditions on the Farm Line at Louisiana State Penitentiary (Angola), where incarcerated workers are forced to labor in extreme heat for as little as zero to four cents an hour, violate the Eighth Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment. However, citing a recent Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals decision ...
Families of Victims Who Died From Heat in Prison Fight to Prevent More Deaths
A recent article highlights the push for Adrienne’s Act in California, which would mandate cooling systems and heat-relief protocols in state prisons following the 2024 heat-related death of incarcerated woman Adrienne Boulware. The bill, which has passed committee stages, would require the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to implement plans for cooled living quarters, ...
Shackled for weeks: Federal report finds abuse of restraints in prisons – Georgia Public Broadcasting
A new Justice Department Inspector General report found that the federal Bureau of Prisons violated its own rules by excessively restraining prisoners, including cases where an individual died after being shackled for over two days and another required a limb amputation due to restraints being applied too tightly. The report reviewed six years of records ...
Too few guards and too many drones: Georgia prisons leaders alert lawmakers to dangers
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 ...
Gov. Kemp recommends adding $372 million to shore up Georgia prisons – Georgia Public Broadcasting
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 ...
State prisons chief pitches case for funding boost – Georgia Public Broadcasting
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 ...
The federal Department of Justice: ‘deliberate indifference’ to violence in Georgia prisons – Georgia Public Broadcasting
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 ...
No articles found.
Fish Tanks, Plants and Podcast Studios — Some States Try a New Approach to Incarceration
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 ...
Rats, Insects and Mold: How Bad Food Leaves Prisoners Hungry and Sick
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 ...
Crime Laws: How Louisiana, Georgia, Other States Embrace ‘Tough-on-Crime
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 — ...
Data Reveals Prison Crisis: More Prisoners, Fewer Correctional Officers
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, ...
As Corrections Officers Quit in Droves, Prisons Get Even More Dangerous
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 ...
Georgia needs prison reform and accountability – Facebook
GEORGIA DOESN’T JUST NEED MORE PRISONS. IT NEEDS ACCOUNTABILITY INSIDE THE PRISONS WE ALREADY HAVE. Georgia taxpayers spend enormous amounts of money on corrections. Yet we continue hearing about…
Georgia inmates sentenced for running jury duty phone scam
Georgia inmates sentenced for running jury duty phone scam ALBANY, Ga. – Two Georgia inmates who used contraband cellphones to extortionately trick citizens out of hundreds of thousands of dollars from prison cells have been sentenced to federal prison, officials said. Albany federal court sentencing What we know: Senior U.S. District Judge W. Louis Sands ...
Warrants: Prison-system accounting tech had sex with Central State Prison inmate, illegally gave him food – 13WMAZ
Warrants: Prison-system accounting tech had sex with Central State Prison inmate, illegally gave him food Newly released arrested warrants from the Georgia Department of Corrections are offering new details on the arrest of a prison-system employee on Thursday. According to Bibb County Jail records, 35-year-old Zacarra Oliver — who was an employee of the Georgia ...
Atlanta woman charged in Florida in bitcoin jury duty scam linked to Georgia inmates, sheriff says – CBS News
An Atlanta woman, 61-year-old Annie Ashley, has been extradited to Florida and charged with grand theft in Volusia County in connection with a bitcoin jury duty scam that stole $15,000 from a DeLand woman, according to the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office. Sheriff Mike Chitwood said half the victim’s payment was traced to an account belonging ...
Georgia DOC Expands Contraband Interdiction Strategy Through Advanced Wireless Security Technology – Correctional News
Georgia DOC Expands Contraband Interdiction Strategy Through Advanced Wireless Security Technology The Georgia Department of Corrections (GDC) has deployed PROscan correctional cellular interdiction technology from SDF at 18 GDC facilities, with additional sites planned through 2026. | Photo Credit (all): Courtesy of SDF By Lindsey Coulter Correctional agencies across the country are facing one of ...
ITUC Observations under Article 23 – USA C105 (Forced Labour)
1 The International Trade Union Confederation is a worldwide union network that represents 207 million workers in 163 countries and territories. ITUC’s primary mission is to promote and defend workers’ rights through international cooperation between trade unions, global campaigning and advocacy within major global institutions. Among its affiliates is the American Federation of Labor-Congress of ...
U.S. Department of Justice Findings Report on Georgia Prisons
Investigation of Georgia Prisons U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division U.S. Attorney’s Offices for the Northern, Middle, and Southern Districts of Georgia i October 1, 2024 TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS ………………………………………………………………………….. i EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ………………………………………………………………………… 3 INTRODUCTION …………………………………………………………………………………… 4 INVESTIGATION …………………………………………………………………………………. 11 DEFICIENT CONDITIONS IDENTIFIED …………………………………………………. 14 A. The State of Georgia ...
Georgia prisoner strike comes out of lockdown
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. ...
Georgia Prisoners’ Strike: “We locked ourselves down.”
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 ...
Georgia Prison Strike: A Hidden Labor Force Resists
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 ...
Help Us Cover the Story
Have a tip, document, or firsthand account? Your information helps journalists and advocates expose the truth.