Reopen the Doors — Normalization

Georgia spends $1.8B on prisons and $52 per person on rehabilitation. The state found $150M for surveillance cameras and $805K for vocational education — roughly $186 to watch a person for every $1 to teach one. https://gps.press/reopen-the-doors-normalization/

Georgia chose to warehouse people instead of preparing them to come home. The state spends $1.8 billion a year on prisons and $52 per person on rehabilitation. It found more than $150 million for the OWL surveillance system and left $805,000 for vocational education — roughly $186 to watch a person for every $1 to teach one. The alternative is called normalization: life inside prison should resemble life outside as closely as security allows, because the entire point is to send people back intact. Norway, Sweden, and Denmark treat imprisonment as a temporary loss of liberty, and their recidivism rates sit near 20 percent. The U.S. rate is roughly 65 percent. The evidence is documented, the working models exist on American soil, and the cost is lower than what Georgia already spends to fail. What would it take for Georgia to choose a system that actually works?

Georgia spends $1.8 billion a year on prisons and $52 per person on rehabilitation. The state found $150 million for surveillance cameras and $805,000 for vocational education — roughly $186 to watch a person for every $1 to teach one. The alternative is normalization: treating imprisonment as a loss of liberty and nothing more. In Norway and Sweden, recidivism is near 20 percent. In the U.S., it's 65 percent. The doors were bolted by choice. They can be reopened. #GAPrisons #PrisonReform #EndTheWarehouse #GeorgiaPrisonersSpeak #CriminalJusticeReform #Normalization #RehabilitationNotWarehousing

Georgia's prison system reflects a deliberate policy choice, not an inevitability. The state allocates $1.8 billion annually to incarceration while spending just $52 per person on rehabilitation. It committed over $150 million to the OWL surveillance system and $805,000 to vocational education — a ratio of roughly $186 to watch a person for every $1 to teach one. The principle of normalization — that life inside prison should resemble life outside as closely as security allows — offers an evidence-based alternative. Scandinavian systems operating on this model achieve recidivism rates near 20 percent, compared to roughly 65 percent in the United States. California has begun rebuilding San Quentin as a rehabilitation center inspired by this approach, proving the model translates to American soil. RAND's meta-analysis found that prison education alone cuts reoffending by 43 percent and returns four to five dollars for every dollar spent. The working models exist, the evidence is clear, and the cost is lower than the status quo. The question is whether Georgia's policymakers will act on it.