Two Georgia statutes — one 160 years old — mandate post-conviction relief in mandatory language. Courts have gutted both. An estimated 2,350+ innocent people remain behind bars.
Two existing Georgia statutes could reshape post-conviction relief and save taxpayers an estimated $187.5M annually — if the legislature restores them to their plain meaning after decades of judicial narrowing.
Georgia’s 4-year habeas deadline has no innocence exception — making it more restrictive than the federal anti-terrorism statute. This toolkit arms advocates with data for legislative action.
Georgia’s four-year habeas deadline is the nation’s most rigid—with zero exceptions for actual innocence. Even the federal anti-terrorism statute preserves the innocence gateway.
Georgia gives people in prison just 4 years to challenge their conviction — with no exception for innocence. Even the federal anti-terrorism law protects innocent people. Georgia does not.
A federal judge fined GDC $2,500/day for flagrant violations of solitary confinement reforms. 78% of people in Georgia’s SMU were held over 2 years. Georgia has no legislation limiting the practice.
Every recent Georgia exoneration occurred beyond the state’s 4-year habeas corpus deadline. Under strict application of the law, none would have been possible.
Georgia’s four-year habeas deadline costs taxpayers $105,000+ per year per wrongfully imprisoned person. Every recent Georgia exoneration exceeded the deadline. Major states impose no such limit.