Georgia Parole Board Rejects Constitution
Georgia voters gave the parole board constitutional power to release anyone 62 or older in 1994. In 32 years, the Board has never used it once. GPS investigates.
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Georgia voters gave the parole board power to release prisoners 62+ in 1994. In 32 years, it has never used it. Not once. https://gps.press/georgia-parole-board-rejects-constitution/
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In 1994, more than a million Georgians voted to give the parole board the power to release any prisoner 62 or older. The Board has never used that power. Not once. Nearly 1,400 people serving life sentences are now 62 or older, and the Board has never even written a rule for how they could ask.
For the terminally ill, Georgia built a working system: coordinators, criteria, forms, annual reports. For the elderly, nothing. No form, no rule, no mention in 24 years of reports to the legislature. The voters gave the Board a key. It has chosen never to turn it.
What do you think it means when a power voters wrote into the constitution simply disappears from the state's institutional memory?
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Georgia's constitution says the parole board may release any prisoner 62 or older. Voters approved it by 81 percent in 1994. In 32 years, the Board has never used it. Not once. Nearly 1,400 people serving life sentences are now 62 or older. The Board has never even written a rule for how they could ask. Meanwhile, the medical reprieve process — adopted the same day, in the same sentence — has coordinators, criteria, and annual reports. The elderly exception has nothing.
#GAPrisons #PrisonReform #GeorgiaPrisonerSpeak #ParoleBoard #CriminalJusticeReform #GeorgiaPolitics
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In 1994, Georgia voters amended the state constitution to give the Board of Pardons and Paroles the authority to release any prisoner 62 or older. The amendment passed with 81 percent support. Thirty-two years later, the Board has never used that authority. Not once.
GPS reviewed the Board's rules, 24 years of annual reports to the legislature, and complete public custody records. We found no rule, no procedure, no form, and no mention of the age-62 authority in any official document. Meanwhile, the medical reprieve power adopted in the same sentence has a coordinator, published criteria, and annual reporting.
This is not a failure of discretion. It is an institutional absence. The Board could adopt a rule tomorrow. It has chosen not to acknowledge the power exists. The full investigation is available here: https://gps.press/georgia-parole-board-rejects-constitution/