# GPS This Week — May 9–23, 2026

> ← All issuesGeorgia Prisoners’ SpeakGPS This WeekMay 9–23, 2026A heavy two weeks: GPS published 11 articles — including a new multi-part series on victims inside Georgia prisons, a deep dive on the st…

**Published**: 2026-05-24
**Source**: https://gps.press/newsletter/2026-05-24/
**Author**: GPS Staff

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| | | | --- | | Georgia Prisoners’ Speak # GPS This Week May 9–23, 2026 | | A heavy two weeks: GPS published 11 articles — including a new multi-part series on victims inside Georgia prisons, a deep dive on the state’s 1897 gang-separation law, and two pieces on this month’s sixth statewide lockdown — while sending 451 advocacy emails to legislators. --- ## Featured Stories \| \| \| --- \| \| May 22 · Featured Article ### [Separate the Gangs. It Costs Nothing. Georgia Keeps Choosing the Bodies.](https://gps.press/separate-the-gangs-it-costs-nothing/) A sixth statewide lockdown began after deadly gang violence at Ware State Prison. Georgia Prisoners’ Speak has demanded gang separation for fifteen months — a reform that costs almost nothing and that Texas, Arizona, and California proved cuts violence. Georgia keeps choosing the body count instead. \| \| May 22 · Featured Article ### [On the Books Since 1897: The Separation Law Georgia Refuses to Enforce](https://gps.press/on-the-books-since-1897-the-separation-law-georgia-refuses-to-enforce/) Georgia has commanded its prison system to separate dangerous inmates since 1897, and the legislature declared every person’s right to be safe from gang violence — yet the state enforces neither. The fix isn’t a new law. It’s finishing the one already on the books. \| \| May 21 · Featured Article ### [Who Are the Victims: Victims Still](https://gps.press/who-are-the-victims-victims-still/) Christian Krauch was tortured for three weeks under a bunk at Macon State Prison while GDC filed 168 paper counts saying he was accounted for. He survived. Part 2 of the GPS series *Who Are the Victims* documents what Georgia does to the people who enter its prisons as victims first — and the federal record now in place. \| \| May 18 · Featured Article ### [Who Are the Victims: Before They Were Prisoners](https://gps.press/who-are-the-victims-before-they-were-prisoners/) On January 5, 2026, Nicole Boynton walked free after twenty-three years inside. Georgia’s Survivor Justice Act recognized her as a victim — twenty-three years too late. A new GPS series asks who else qualifies as a victim under Georgia law, and why the state has chosen to look away. \| \| May 17 · Featured Article ### [Two Ways to Starve: Why Georgia’s Prison Deaths Don’t Say “Hunger”](https://gps.press/two-ways-to-starve-why-georgias-prison-deaths-dont-say-hunger/) Georgia spends $1.60 a day to feed 53,000 incarcerated adults — about 13,000 of them over fifty, some on these trays for decades. The bodies arrive at the morgue marked cardiac arrest, organ failure, natural causes. The medical literature, going back eighty years, calls it starvation. \| \| May 16 · Featured Article ### [The Game They Learned: How GDC’s Closed Promotion Pipeline Made Its Own Wardens — and Its Own Indictments](https://gps.press/the-game-they-learned-how-gdcs-closed-promotion-pipeline-made-its-own-wardens-and-its-own-indictments/) On May 13, a Georgia grand jury indicted former Smith State Prison Warden Brian Adams on RICO and bribery charges. He’s the latest output of a closed promotion pipeline that has produced 43 of 43 current state wardens — and the agency cannot explain why pay raises haven’t fixed it. \| --- ## Tell My Story — Reader Accounts This period’s TellMyStory submissions cover a 1998 prison escape, the 1996 Hays State Prison raid under Commissioner Wayne Garner, a mother’s 27-year fight for her wrongfully convicted son, and COVID-19 conditions at Macon State Prison. Read them below — and if you or a loved one inside has a story to tell, submit it at [gps.press/tell-my-story/](https://gps.press/tell-my-story/). \| \| \| --- \| \| May 20 · Tell My Story ### [The Great Escape](https://gps.press/the-great-escape/) In 1998, two inmates at Georgia State Prison orchestrated a daring escape using dummy heads and wire cutters, only to be recaptured hours later. This narrative contrasts the humane conditions under federal control with the deterioration that followed when the state regained operational control. \| \| May 20 · Tell My Story ### [Wayne Garner GDC Commissioner](https://gps.press/wayne-garner-gdc-commissioner/) In 1996, newly appointed GDC Commissioner Wayne Garner responded to a published inmate letter by systematically removing prison amenities and allegedly authorizing a violent raid on Hays State Prison. This account details the removal of equipment, alleged beatings, and subsequent cover-up attempts that led to Garner’s removal. \| \| May 19 · Tell My Story ### [How Much Time Is Enough?](https://gps.press/how-much-time-is-enough/) For 27 years, a mother has watched her son serve time for a crime he didn’t commit, repeatedly denied parole despite completing every program and excelling at work. She shares the emotional toll of the system and questions: how much time is enough? \| \| May 16 · Tell My Story ### [COVID-19 in Georgia Prisons](https://gps.press/covid-19-in-georgia-prisons/) In March 2020, a 58-year-old inmate was locked down with 63 other men in a cramped concrete dormitory at Macon State Prison during the COVID-19 outbreak. This firsthand account reveals the prison’s failure to provide basic health protections, medical testing, and adequate staffing — and how a journalist’s investigation briefly exposed the system’s deadly negligence. \| --- ## Also Published \| \| \| --- \| \| May 10 · Education ### [10 Stoic Lessons from Marcus Aurelius for Prisoners](https://gps.press/10-stoic-lessons-from-marcus-aurelius-for-prisoners/) Marcus Aurelius ruled the Roman Empire while writing private notes about how to live well. Eighteen centuries later, his wisdom offers prisoners and their families ten practical lessons for navigating difficult people, controlling anger, building an inner refuge, and finding freedom of mind even in the most restrictive circumstances. \| --- ## Emails Sent on Your Behalf **473 total emails** sent this period. - 451 — Advocacy emails to legislators - 22 — Welcome emails to new advocates --- ## New Advocates 22 new advocates joined the GPS Action Network this period. --- The GPS Team — [accountability@gps.press](mailto:accountability@gps.press) | | May 22 · Featured Article ### [Separate the Gangs. It Costs Nothing. Georgia Keeps Choosing the Bodies.](https://gps.press/separate-the-gangs-it-costs-nothing/) A sixth statewide lockdown began after deadly gang violence at Ware State Prison. Georgia Prisoners’ Speak has demanded gang separation for fifteen months — a reform that costs almost nothing and that Texas, Arizona, and California proved cuts violence. Georgia keeps choosing the body count instead. | | May 22 · Featured Article ### [On the Books Since 1897: The Separation Law Georgia Refuses to Enforce](https://gps.press/on-the-books-since-1897-the-separation-law-georgia-refuses-to-enforce/) Georgia has commanded its prison system to separate dangerous inmates since 1897, and the legislature declared every person’s right to be safe from gang violence — yet the state enforces neither. The fix isn’t a new law. It’s finishing the one already on the books. | | May 21 · Featured Article ### [Who Are the Victims: Victims Still](https://gps.press/who-are-the-victims-victims-still/) Christian Krauch was tortured for three weeks under a bunk at Macon State Prison while GDC filed 168 paper counts saying he was accounted for. He survived. Part 2 of the GPS series *Who Are the Victims* documents what Georgia does to the people who enter its prisons as victims first — and the federal record now in place. | | May 18 · Featured Article ### [Who Are the Victims: Before They Were Prisoners](https://gps.press/who-are-the-victims-before-they-were-prisoners/) On January 5, 2026, Nicole Boynton walked free after twenty-three years inside. Georgia’s Survivor Justice Act recognized her as a victim — twenty-three years too late. A new GPS series asks who else qualifies as a victim under Georgia law, and why the state has chosen to look away. | | May 17 · Featured Article ### [Two Ways to Starve: Why Georgia’s Prison Deaths Don’t Say “Hunger”](https://gps.press/two-ways-to-starve-why-georgias-prison-deaths-dont-say-hunger/) Georgia spends $1.60 a day to feed 53,000 incarcerated adults — about 13,000 of them over fifty, some on these trays for decades. The bodies arrive at the morgue marked cardiac arrest, organ failure, natural causes. The medical literature, going back eighty years, calls it starvation. | | May 16 · Featured Article ### [The Game They Learned: How GDC’s Closed Promotion Pipeline Made Its Own Wardens — and Its Own Indictments](https://gps.press/the-game-they-learned-how-gdcs-closed-promotion-pipeline-made-its-own-wardens-and-its-own-indictments/) On May 13, a Georgia grand jury indicted former Smith State Prison Warden Brian Adams on RICO and bribery charges. He’s the latest output of a closed promotion pipeline that has produced 43 of 43 current state wardens — and the agency cannot explain why pay raises haven’t fixed it. | | May 20 · Tell My Story ### [The Great Escape](https://gps.press/the-great-escape/) In 1998, two inmates at Georgia State Prison orchestrated a daring escape using dummy heads and wire cutters, only to be recaptured hours later. This narrative contrasts the humane conditions under federal control with the deterioration that followed when the state regained operational control. | | May 20 · Tell My Story ### [Wayne Garner GDC Commissioner](https://gps.press/wayne-garner-gdc-commissioner/) In 1996, newly appointed GDC Commissioner Wayne Garner responded to a published inmate letter by systematically removing prison amenities and allegedly authorizing a violent raid on Hays State Prison. This account details the removal of equipment, alleged beatings, and subsequent cover-up attempts that led to Garner’s removal. | | May 19 · Tell My Story ### [How Much Time Is Enough?](https://gps.press/how-much-time-is-enough/) For 27 years, a mother has watched her son serve time for a crime he didn’t commit, repeatedly denied parole despite completing every program and excelling at work. She shares the emotional toll of the system and questions: how much time is enough? | | May 16 · Tell My Story ### [COVID-19 in Georgia Prisons](https://gps.press/covid-19-in-georgia-prisons/) In March 2020, a 58-year-old inmate was locked down with 63 other men in a cramped concrete dormitory at Macon State Prison during the COVID-19 outbreak. This firsthand account reveals the prison’s failure to provide basic health protections, medical testing, and adequate staffing — and how a journalist’s investigation briefly exposed the system’s deadly negligence. | | May 10 · Education ### [10 Stoic Lessons from Marcus Aurelius for Prisoners](https://gps.press/10-stoic-lessons-from-marcus-aurelius-for-prisoners/) Marcus Aurelius ruled the Roman Empire while writing private notes about how to live well. Eighteen centuries later, his wisdom offers prisoners and their families ten practical lessons for navigating difficult people, controlling anger, building an inner refuge, and finding freedom of mind even in the most restrictive circumstances. | |
| Georgia Prisoners’ Speak # GPS This Week May 9–23, 2026 |
| A heavy two weeks: GPS published 11 articles — including a new multi-part series on victims inside Georgia prisons, a deep dive on the state’s 1897 gang-separation law, and two pieces on this month’s sixth statewide lockdown — while sending 451 advocacy emails to legislators. --- ## Featured Stories | | | --- | | May 22 · Featured Article ### [Separate the Gangs. It Costs Nothing. Georgia Keeps Choosing the Bodies.](https://gps.press/separate-the-gangs-it-costs-nothing/) A sixth statewide lockdown began after deadly gang violence at Ware State Prison. Georgia Prisoners’ Speak has demanded gang separation for fifteen months — a reform that costs almost nothing and that Texas, Arizona, and California proved cuts violence. Georgia keeps choosing the body count instead. | | May 22 · Featured Article ### [On the Books Since 1897: The Separation Law Georgia Refuses to Enforce](https://gps.press/on-the-books-since-1897-the-separation-law-georgia-refuses-to-enforce/) Georgia has commanded its prison system to separate dangerous inmates since 1897, and the legislature declared every person’s right to be safe from gang violence — yet the state enforces neither. The fix isn’t a new law. It’s finishing the one already on the books. | | May 21 · Featured Article ### [Who Are the Victims: Victims Still](https://gps.press/who-are-the-victims-victims-still/) Christian Krauch was tortured for three weeks under a bunk at Macon State Prison while GDC filed 168 paper counts saying he was accounted for. He survived. Part 2 of the GPS series *Who Are the Victims* documents what Georgia does to the people who enter its prisons as victims first — and the federal record now in place. | | May 18 · Featured Article ### [Who Are the Victims: Before They Were Prisoners](https://gps.press/who-are-the-victims-before-they-were-prisoners/) On January 5, 2026, Nicole Boynton walked free after twenty-three years inside. Georgia’s Survivor Justice Act recognized her as a victim — twenty-three years too late. A new GPS series asks who else qualifies as a victim under Georgia law, and why the state has chosen to look away. | | May 17 · Featured Article ### [Two Ways to Starve: Why Georgia’s Prison Deaths Don’t Say “Hunger”](https://gps.press/two-ways-to-starve-why-georgias-prison-deaths-dont-say-hunger/) Georgia spends $1.60 a day to feed 53,000 incarcerated adults — about 13,000 of them over fifty, some on these trays for decades. The bodies arrive at the morgue marked cardiac arrest, organ failure, natural causes. The medical literature, going back eighty years, calls it starvation. | | May 16 · Featured Article ### [The Game They Learned: How GDC’s Closed Promotion Pipeline Made Its Own Wardens — and Its Own Indictments](https://gps.press/the-game-they-learned-how-gdcs-closed-promotion-pipeline-made-its-own-wardens-and-its-own-indictments/) On May 13, a Georgia grand jury indicted former Smith State Prison Warden Brian Adams on RICO and bribery charges. He’s the latest output of a closed promotion pipeline that has produced 43 of 43 current state wardens — and the agency cannot explain why pay raises haven’t fixed it. | --- ## Tell My Story — Reader Accounts This period’s TellMyStory submissions cover a 1998 prison escape, the 1996 Hays State Prison raid under Commissioner Wayne Garner, a mother’s 27-year fight for her wrongfully convicted son, and COVID-19 conditions at Macon State Prison. Read them below — and if you or a loved one inside has a story to tell, submit it at [gps.press/tell-my-story/](https://gps.press/tell-my-story/). | | | --- | | May 20 · Tell My Story ### [The Great Escape](https://gps.press/the-great-escape/) In 1998, two inmates at Georgia State Prison orchestrated a daring escape using dummy heads and wire cutters, only to be recaptured hours later. This narrative contrasts the humane conditions under federal control with the deterioration that followed when the state regained operational control. | | May 20 · Tell My Story ### [Wayne Garner GDC Commissioner](https://gps.press/wayne-garner-gdc-commissioner/) In 1996, newly appointed GDC Commissioner Wayne Garner responded to a published inmate letter by systematically removing prison amenities and allegedly authorizing a violent raid on Hays State Prison. This account details the removal of equipment, alleged beatings, and subsequent cover-up attempts that led to Garner’s removal. | | May 19 · Tell My Story ### [How Much Time Is Enough?](https://gps.press/how-much-time-is-enough/) For 27 years, a mother has watched her son serve time for a crime he didn’t commit, repeatedly denied parole despite completing every program and excelling at work. She shares the emotional toll of the system and questions: how much time is enough? | | May 16 · Tell My Story ### [COVID-19 in Georgia Prisons](https://gps.press/covid-19-in-georgia-prisons/) In March 2020, a 58-year-old inmate was locked down with 63 other men in a cramped concrete dormitory at Macon State Prison during the COVID-19 outbreak. This firsthand account reveals the prison’s failure to provide basic health protections, medical testing, and adequate staffing — and how a journalist’s investigation briefly exposed the system’s deadly negligence. | --- ## Also Published | | | --- | | May 10 · Education ### [10 Stoic Lessons from Marcus Aurelius for Prisoners](https://gps.press/10-stoic-lessons-from-marcus-aurelius-for-prisoners/) Marcus Aurelius ruled the Roman Empire while writing private notes about how to live well. Eighteen centuries later, his wisdom offers prisoners and their families ten practical lessons for navigating difficult people, controlling anger, building an inner refuge, and finding freedom of mind even in the most restrictive circumstances. | --- ## Emails Sent on Your Behalf **473 total emails** sent this period. - 451 — Advocacy emails to legislators - 22 — Welcome emails to new advocates --- ## New Advocates 22 new advocates joined the GPS Action Network this period. --- The GPS Team — [accountability@gps.press](mailto:accountability@gps.press) |
| May 22 · Featured Article ### [Separate the Gangs. It Costs Nothing. Georgia Keeps Choosing the Bodies.](https://gps.press/separate-the-gangs-it-costs-nothing/) A sixth statewide lockdown began after deadly gang violence at Ware State Prison. Georgia Prisoners’ Speak has demanded gang separation for fifteen months — a reform that costs almost nothing and that Texas, Arizona, and California proved cuts violence. Georgia keeps choosing the body count instead. |
| May 22 · Featured Article ### [On the Books Since 1897: The Separation Law Georgia Refuses to Enforce](https://gps.press/on-the-books-since-1897-the-separation-law-georgia-refuses-to-enforce/) Georgia has commanded its prison system to separate dangerous inmates since 1897, and the legislature declared every person’s right to be safe from gang violence — yet the state enforces neither. The fix isn’t a new law. It’s finishing the one already on the books. |
| May 21 · Featured Article ### [Who Are the Victims: Victims Still](https://gps.press/who-are-the-victims-victims-still/) Christian Krauch was tortured for three weeks under a bunk at Macon State Prison while GDC filed 168 paper counts saying he was accounted for. He survived. Part 2 of the GPS series *Who Are the Victims* documents what Georgia does to the people who enter its prisons as victims first — and the federal record now in place. |
| May 18 · Featured Article ### [Who Are the Victims: Before They Were Prisoners](https://gps.press/who-are-the-victims-before-they-were-prisoners/) On January 5, 2026, Nicole Boynton walked free after twenty-three years inside. Georgia’s Survivor Justice Act recognized her as a victim — twenty-three years too late. A new GPS series asks who else qualifies as a victim under Georgia law, and why the state has chosen to look away. |
| May 17 · Featured Article ### [Two Ways to Starve: Why Georgia’s Prison Deaths Don’t Say “Hunger”](https://gps.press/two-ways-to-starve-why-georgias-prison-deaths-dont-say-hunger/) Georgia spends $1.60 a day to feed 53,000 incarcerated adults — about 13,000 of them over fifty, some on these trays for decades. The bodies arrive at the morgue marked cardiac arrest, organ failure, natural causes. The medical literature, going back eighty years, calls it starvation. |
| May 16 · Featured Article ### [The Game They Learned: How GDC’s Closed Promotion Pipeline Made Its Own Wardens — and Its Own Indictments](https://gps.press/the-game-they-learned-how-gdcs-closed-promotion-pipeline-made-its-own-wardens-and-its-own-indictments/) On May 13, a Georgia grand jury indicted former Smith State Prison Warden Brian Adams on RICO and bribery charges. He’s the latest output of a closed promotion pipeline that has produced 43 of 43 current state wardens — and the agency cannot explain why pay raises haven’t fixed it. |
| May 20 · Tell My Story ### [The Great Escape](https://gps.press/the-great-escape/) In 1998, two inmates at Georgia State Prison orchestrated a daring escape using dummy heads and wire cutters, only to be recaptured hours later. This narrative contrasts the humane conditions under federal control with the deterioration that followed when the state regained operational control. |
| May 20 · Tell My Story ### [Wayne Garner GDC Commissioner](https://gps.press/wayne-garner-gdc-commissioner/) In 1996, newly appointed GDC Commissioner Wayne Garner responded to a published inmate letter by systematically removing prison amenities and allegedly authorizing a violent raid on Hays State Prison. This account details the removal of equipment, alleged beatings, and subsequent cover-up attempts that led to Garner’s removal. |
| May 19 · Tell My Story ### [How Much Time Is Enough?](https://gps.press/how-much-time-is-enough/) For 27 years, a mother has watched her son serve time for a crime he didn’t commit, repeatedly denied parole despite completing every program and excelling at work. She shares the emotional toll of the system and questions: how much time is enough? |
| May 16 · Tell My Story ### [COVID-19 in Georgia Prisons](https://gps.press/covid-19-in-georgia-prisons/) In March 2020, a 58-year-old inmate was locked down with 63 other men in a cramped concrete dormitory at Macon State Prison during the COVID-19 outbreak. This firsthand account reveals the prison’s failure to provide basic health protections, medical testing, and adequate staffing — and how a journalist’s investigation briefly exposed the system’s deadly negligence. |
| May 10 · Education ### [10 Stoic Lessons from Marcus Aurelius for Prisoners](https://gps.press/10-stoic-lessons-from-marcus-aurelius-for-prisoners/) Marcus Aurelius ruled the Roman Empire while writing private notes about how to live well. Eighteen centuries later, his wisdom offers prisoners and their families ten practical lessons for navigating difficult people, controlling anger, building an inner refuge, and finding freedom of mind even in the most restrictive circumstances. |

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