"There Is No Good Time": Georgia's Prisons Are in Crisis, and the State Won't Let People Earn Their Way Home

Georgia reported 169 prison homicides in FY2020-2024. California reported 111. Florida 65. Texas 41. Georgia holds fewer people than all three. https://gps.press/there-is-no-good-time-georgias-prisons-are-in-crisis-and-the-state-wont-let-people-earn-their-way-home/

Georgia reported 169 prison homicides to the federal government for fiscal years 2020 through 2024. California reported 111 over the same period. Florida reported 65. Texas reported 41. Each of those three states holds far more people than Georgia. The Justice Department found reasonable cause to believe Georgia's prisons violate the Eighth Amendment, and that GDC underreports homicides in its own mortality data. Meanwhile, Georgia law bars earned time for crimes committed after 1983, and the Parole Board's handbook states plainly: "There is no good time, gained time, or earned time applied to prison sentences in Georgia." If the state won't let people earn their way home, what is the incentive to do the work? Read our investigation and tell us: what would accountability look like here? https://gps.press/there-is-no-good-time-georgias-prisons-are-in-crisis-and-the-state-wont-let-people-earn-their-way-home/

Georgia reported 169 prison homicides to the federal government for fiscal years 2020 through 2024. California reported 111. Florida 65. Texas 41. Each of those states holds far more people than Georgia. The Justice Department found reasonable cause to believe Georgia's prisons violate the Eighth Amendment, and that GDC underreports homicides in its own data. Georgia law bars earned time for crimes committed after 1983 — the Parole Board's handbook says so directly. Our investigation traces the statutes, the deaths and the states that chose a different path. Link in bio. #GeorgiaPrisons #GDC #PrisonAccountability #EighthAmendment #CriminalJusticeReform #InvestigativeJournalism #GeorgiaPolitics

The Justice Department's October 2024 findings concluded there is reasonable cause to believe Georgia's prisons violate the Eighth Amendment. The state's own reported data shows the scale: 169 prison homicides reported to the federal government for FY2020-2024, against 111 in California, 65 in Florida and 41 in Texas — states that each hold far more people. The DOJ also found GDC underreports homicides in its mortality data. At the same time, Georgia law bars earned time for crimes committed after 1983, and the Parole Board's handbook states there is no good time or earned time applied to Georgia sentences. Our investigation examines what other states write into statute, what the recidivism research shows, and what a credit tied to the sentence itself would require. For policymakers, the question is structural: a system holding 42,135 people in space built for 20,207, with no mechanism to earn release, offers no incentive to complete programs. https://gps.press/there-is-no-good-time-georgias-prisons-are-in-crisis-and-the-state-wont-let-people-earn-their-way-home/