# GPS This Week — June 27 – July 11, 2026 > ← All issuesGreetings: This week is about what Georgia's own records admit — and what the state does about it, which is mostly to pay and move on. At least nineteen men have been killed by other priso… **Published**: 2026-07-12 **Source**: https://gps.press/newsletter/2026-07-12/ **Author**: GPS Staff --- [← All issues](https://gps.press/newsletter/#past-issues) Greetings: This week is about what Georgia's own records admit — and what the state does about it, which is mostly to pay and move on. At least nineteen men have been killed by other prisoners at one Georgia prison since 2020. The state's own autopsies name a suspect in eleven of those deaths; we could find no record that anyone was prosecuted. A man died of dehydration in a solitary cell after, a lawsuit says, staff shut off his water — the state called it a natural death, then quietly settled. Our new public accounting shows the scale: $50.6 million across 261 settlements, every dollar spent after the harm, while the conditions that caused it go unfixed. We don't ask anyone to take our word for it. This period we mailed the record to all 251 Georgia legislators and all 44 wardens, and filed dozens of open records requests to get more of it. The receipts are the point. | | | --- | | **8** articles · **119** stories to legislators · **699** emails · **14** new advocates | ## Significant work this period **[Launched "What Georgia Pays" — a public accounting of prison-settlement payouts](https://gps.press/what-georgia-pays/)** GPS published what Georgia has paid to settle lawsuits and claims over deaths and injuries in its prisons: $50.6 million across 261 settlements, drawn entirely from the state's own records. Every dollar is money spent after the harm — while the conditions that caused it go unfixed. The data is searchable by facility and appears on each linked death record. **[GPS This Week now has a public signup](https://gps.press/newsletter/)** Our weekly newsletter finally has a front door: gps.press/newsletter (English and Spanish) takes just a name and email. You'll also find it in the site menu under "Join Our Movement" and on the Action Center. **[Postcards to every Georgia prison warden: "Separate the Gangs"](https://gps.press/intelligence/solutions/)** GPS mailed personalized postcards to all 44 Georgia Department of Corrections wardens and top administrators, laying out the state's own statutory duty under O.C.G.A. § 42-5-52 to classify and separate inmates — and the concrete steps to keep rival gang members apart, with no new law, beds, or budget required. **[Mailed the full "Buried Alive" investigation to every Georgia legislator](https://gps.press/)** All 251 members of the Georgia General Assembly received a printed copy of our investigation into O.C.G.A. § 9-14-42 — the four-year deadline that guts habeas corpus for everyone but death row — with a letter asking them to take it up when the session reconvenes. **Filed a wave of open records requests for death-investigation and prison-food records** GPS filed dozens of open records requests with Georgia agencies — pressing the GBI for death-investigation files and the prison system for its own food-service cost and nutrition reports. **[gps.press is now fully bilingual](https://gps.press/es/)** Every page, every screen, and all 249 published articles now have a Spanish edition at gps.press/es/, with an EN | ES switcher on every page. ## Articles published **[At Least Nineteen: The Murders the State Didn't Prosecute](https://gps.press/at-least-nineteen-the-murders-the-state-didnt-prosecute/)** — July 6 At least nineteen men have been killed by other prisoners inside Ware State Prison since 2020. Georgia's own autopsies name a suspect in eleven of the deaths. GPS could find no record that anyone was ever prosecuted. [En español](https://gps.press/at-least-nineteen-the-murders-the-state-didnt-prosecute-es/) **[The State Called His Death Natural. Reginald Jacobs Died of Thirst in a Prison Cell.](https://gps.press/the-state-called-his-death-natural-reginald-jacobs-died-of-thirst-in-a-prison-cell/)** — July 3 Reginald Jacobs Jr., 24, died of dehydration in a solitary cell at Calhoun State Prison after a lawsuit says staff shut off his water and left him for nine days. The state recorded it as a natural death — then quietly settled. [En español](https://gps.press/the-state-called-his-death-natural-reginald-jacobs-died-of-thirst-in-a-prison-cell-es/) **[A Toothache Should Not Be a Death Sentence: The Last Three Weeks of James Byrd](https://gps.press/a-toothache-should-not-be-a-death-sentence-the-last-three-weeks-of-james-byrd/)** — July 1 James Byrd, 30, died in an Effingham County Prison isolation cell in January 2022 — three weeks after a toothache, days after staff acknowledged his infection to his family. Records obtained by GPS reveal a $10 million negligence claim still unresolved four years later. [En español](https://gps.press/a-toothache-should-not-be-a-death-sentence-the-last-three-weeks-of-james-byrd-es/) **[A Wrongful Conviction Story: One Man's Journey Through Fraud, Coercion, and Systemic Failure](https://gps.press/a-wrongful-conviction-story-one-mans-journey-through-fraud-coercion-and-systemic-failure/)** — June 29 A man spent eleven years in prison on two invalid convictions, facing fraudulent threats, coerced pleas, and a void mistrial. While incarcerated, he was repeatedly infected with Legionella from contaminated water, leading to permanent injury. [En español](https://gps.press/a-wrongful-conviction-story-one-mans-journey-through-fraud-coercion-and-systemic-failure-es/) ## Mailings this period Advocacy letters mailed: 253. We also put 75 firsthand stories from inside directly into Georgia legislators' hands this period — real accounts mailed as Tell My Story postcards, each carrying a pull-quote and a QR code to the full story, delivered as physical mail so lawmakers can't look away from what's happening in their prisons. Have a story that belongs in a legislator's hands? Share it at [gps.press/tellmystory](https://gps.press/tellmystory). ## Emails sent on your behalf 699 emails total: Legislative — 666, Advocacy — 29, Open Records Requests — 4. ## New advocates 14 new subscribers joined GPS This Week during this period. Welcome. ## Explore GPS Two corners of GPS worth a look: **[Submit a Report](https://gps.press/submit-a-report/)** Witnessed or experienced something inside a Georgia prison? Send it to GPS securely. Every report strengthens the record. **[Tell My Story](https://gps.press/tellmystory)** Firsthand accounts from people living inside Georgia prisons, in their own words. Read them — and share one if you have it. — The GPS Team — accountability@gps.press [Subscribe to GPS This Week](https://gps.press/newsletter/#signup)