They Told the People in Charge. Then They Left.

A federal judge found GDC falsified door-sheet records, including logging a dead man as attending out-of-cell time. Read how staff say the paperwork replaced the prison: https://gps.press/they-told-the-people-in-charge-then-they-left/

A federal judge held Georgia's prison department in contempt in April 2024, finding it falsified documentation of review hearings and, in one case, logged a man for out-of-cell time after he had already been pronounced dead. Former officers and supervisors describe a system where forms got filled in while staffing collapsed: by 2024, state payroll records show the uniformed force was a little over half its 2015 size. If the paperwork says the checks happened, how is anyone supposed to know what actually goes on behind the gate?

A 100-page federal contempt order found Georgia prison officials falsified documentation, including recording a man in out-of-cell time after his death. Former staff describe the same pattern: forms filled in while staffing fell to a little over half its 2015 size. Read the full investigation at the link in bio. #GeorgiaPrisons #GDC #InvestigativeJournalism #PrisonReform #Accountability

A federal contempt order in Daughtry v. Emmons found Georgia prison officials falsified documentation of review hearings and out-of-cell programming, including records showing a man participating after he had been pronounced dead. Former officers and supervisors describe a broader pattern: paperwork kept current while staffing collapsed, with state payroll showing the uniformed force at a little over half its 2015 size by 2024. The U.S. Department of Justice's 2024 findings put officer vacancy rates around 50% systemwide and over 70% at ten of the largest facilities. For policymakers, the question is what oversight means when the records used to demonstrate compliance are themselves the subject of judicial findings.