Georgia Constitution

Georgia Parole Board Rejects Constitution

Editorial cartoon: a parole board official with scissors prepares to cut the line "The Board may parole anyone 62 or older" out of a scroll labeled Georgia Constitution, saying "Never heard of it," while an elderly prisoner stands at a barred window. Caption: 32 years. Zero paroles.

In 1994, 81% of Georgia voters gave the parole board constitutional authority to parole anyone 62 or older — an exception written into the same amendment that created life without parole. Thirty-two years later, the Board has no rule, no process, and no record of ever using it once.

The Abuse Provision: Georgia’s Forgotten Prison Clause

Georgia’s constitution contains a clause no other state has: a ban on abusing any person “in being arrested, while under arrest, or in prison.” Written by Reconstruction delegates in 1868, cited only ten times since, it may be the most powerful untested legal tool against the prison crisis.