Georgia’s prison system is collapsing. With 100+ homicides in 2024, record deaths, DOJ findings of unconstitutional conditions, and $700 million in new spending that failed to improve safety, decarceration is no longer optional. Evidence from New York, California, and Europe proves it works.
Georgia’s 2026 legislative session could finally bring transparency and fairness to parole. With SB 25 and the new *Second Chance Parole Reform Act of 2026*, advocates are demanding written explanations, video hearings, and real opportunities for release. Learn how families can act now and use Impact Justice AI to push lawmakers for change.
Georgia has secretly packed four medium security prisons with close security inmates at rates up to 10 times higher than other facilities—creating a deadly mismatch that’s killing people. GPS obtained data showing Dooly, Wilcox, Calhoun, and Washington State Prisons now house 28-30% close security populations. The result? Homicide rates 4-5 times higher than properly classified prisons, with 33 deaths in 2024 alone—over half under age 50. The DOJ found all four facilities in violation of the Eighth Amendment. GDC’s response? Stop reporting causes of death. On November 7, 58-year-old Darrow Brown was stabbed to death at Dooly after accidentally bumping into a gang member. He was under officer escort during restricted movement. It didn’t matter. When you operate medium security prisons as close security facilities without proper safeguards, violence becomes inevitable. And GDC knows it.
For many families in Georgia, having a loved one behind bars doesn’t mean only missing birthdays and phone calls—it means chronic financial strain. A new national study finds that families who provide direct support to incarcerated relatives spend on average 6 % of their household income each month just to cover direct costs like commissary items, hygiene products and phone calls. 
When that national figure meets the realities inside Georgia’s prison system—sky-high commissary mark‐ups, inadequate meals that force reliance on overpriced snacks—the results are devastating.
…Georgia’s priority is containment, not change. Compare that to California’s approach. For just $239 million—a fraction of Georgia’s spending—California is transforming San Quentin into a rehabilitation hub modeled on Scandinavian…
Stewart Distribution supplies convenience stores across Georgia with chips, honey buns, and ramen. When products approach expiration, stores pull them from shelves. Where do those products go?
Back to Stewart’s warehouse in Blackshear—then straight to Georgia’s prisons at premium prices.
The result: Inmates pay $0.90 for ramen worth $0.20 wholesale, $4 for ibuprofen that costs $0.40 at Walmart, $5.60 for peanut butter worth $2.18. Prison families—already missing a wage earner—paid $47 million in 2024 for products worth $28 million, with the state pocketing $18.7 million in pure profit.
Then on November 1, 2025, Georgia raised prices another 30%.
Georgia doesn’t pay inmates a single cent for their labor, then charges them 300-1,000% markups on necessities. Commissioner Tyrone Oliver could reduce these prices today through administrative action. He chooses not to.
At Georgia’s main prison, men are dying from neglect—not executions. The sick go untreated, suicides are ignored, and bodies vanish from the record. These aren’t isolated cases—they’re the rule. Read how Georgia’s prison system erases the dead and silences the living.
Georgia’s prison system is collapsing under its own weight.
More than 53,000 people are held in conditions the U.S. Department of Justice calls unconstitutional — where gangs rule, officers vanish, and human life has lost its value.
…https://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2013/may/03/hays-security-upgrades-get-good-reviews/[↩] Coosa Valley News, https://coosavalleynews.com/2023/11/hays-prison-inmates-among-twenty-three-gang-members-indicted-on-racketeering-drug-trafficking-and-firearm-charges/[↩] GDC Hays page, https://gdc.georgia.gov/locations/hays-state-prison[↩] AJC overview, https://www.ajc.com/news/georgia-news/ga-lawmakers-and-governor-propose-600-million-to-fix-state-prisons/2HUR7YIYLNBA5JCCIH6BYBTV7M/[↩] 13WMAZ, https://www.13wmaz.com/article/news/local/new-prison-washington-county/93-dea1291e-49f8-4623-b831-4a86fac118ec[↩] AJC—Consultants in crisis, https://www.ajc.com/news/investigations/georgia-prisons-in-crisis-say-consultants-hired-by-governor/5P6BELWL4ZE7LK2BKWP3QT6Y2E/[↩][↩] AJC investigation hub, https://www.ajc.com/news/investigations/georgia-prisons-the-ajcs-investigation-into-corruption-dysfunction-and-violence/P3GTS77W4RGHLN5GLJSS6WCV2Y/[↩] Filter Magazine, https://filtermag.org/georgia-prison-violence-hunger/amp/[↩] AJC—Deception as crisis builds, https://www.ajc.com/news/investigations/georgia-prison-officials-have-repeatedly-presented-false-or-misleading-information-to-federal-investigators-state-lawmakers-and-a-federal-judge/H76M74I6L5F5DKXEYSSZEQSLGY/[↩]…
…https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7077099/ https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8858590/ https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4235202/ https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9312494/ https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3984258/ Violence and Nutrition Studies https://www.sciencefocus.com/the-human-body/prison-food-nutrition-violence-mental-health https://sanquentinnews.com/growing-research-shows-impact-of-poor-nutrition-on-prison-violence/ https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/evolutionary-psychiatry/201105/diet-and-violence https://psychiatryonline.org/doi/full/10.1176/pn.37.19.0026 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/26836145_The_Theory_Diet_Causes_Violence_The_Lab_Prison https://library.fabresearch.org/viewItem.php?id=7275 https://wellbeingjournal.com/crime-and-food/ Privatization/Contractor Issues https://investigate.afsc.org/company/aramark https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/prison-strike-protest-aramark https://www.prisonlegalnews.org/news/2024/may/1/aramark-prison-food-thought/ https://www.prisonlegalnews.org/news/2016/oct/14/hungry-prisoners-dread-privatized-food-services/ https://www.prisonlegalnews.org/news/2021/jan/1/georgia-prisoners-lacked-food-water-leading-melee/ https://www.cbsnews.com/detroit/news/states-ends-prison-food-contract-with-aramark-but-is-new-contractor-riddled-with-hunger-issues/ https://www.governing.com/archive/gov-private-food-service-prisons-aramark-trinity-ohio-michigan.html https://civileats.com/2018/08/20/michigans-failed-effort-to-privatize-prison-kitchens-and-the-future-of-institutional-food/ https://thinkprogress.org/snyder-prison-food-reverse-f8559aa3360b/ https://federalcriminaldefenseattorney.com/aramarks-correctional-food-services-meals-maggots-and-misconduct/ https://www.vice.com/en/article/why-1200-michigan-inmates-are-protesting-their-prisons-food/ https://www.corrections1.com/investigations/federal-judge-imposes-fines-monitor-on-ga-prison…