Tip briefs from our investigations, designed for journalists covering criminal justice and corrections in Georgia.
Shift rosters obtained through open records show Washington State Prison had only five to six correctional officers assigned to cover 69 designated security posts on the days surrounding Georgia's deadliest…
Between FY 2022 and FY 2026, Georgia added $700 million to its corrections budget—the fastest spending growth in agency history—yet prison homicides exploded from single digits to 100 deaths in…
The 2011 Supreme Court case Brown v. Plata established that federal courts must intervene when overcrowding is the primary cause of constitutional violations in prisons. With the DOJ's civil rights…
Governor Brian Kemp commissioned independent investigations that found Georgia's prisons operating at less than 50% staffing with constitutional violations, then invested over $600 million across two fiscal years. One year…
Mass incarceration emerged from documented federal policy decisions during the War on Drugs era, including tolerance of CIA-linked drug trafficking abroad while criminalizing affected communities at home. Georgia's adoption of…
Georgia's prison homicides are outpacing last year's totals, with June 2025 being the deadliest month so far—a predictable outcome of policies the Georgia Department of Corrections refuses to change despite…
Sheqweetta Vaughan's death at Lee Arrendale State Prison represents another preventable tragedy in Georgia's failing correctional system. Her case underscores how the state's prisons systematically fail incarcerated women, particularly those…
Federal courts established that 'persons are sent to prison as punishment, not for punishment,' meaning anything beyond loss of liberty becomes illegal extra punishment under the Eighth Amendment. Georgia's systematic…
GPS analysis of GDC population data reveals four medium security prisons have been quietly transformed into de facto close security facilities, housing 455-545 close security inmates each. This classification mismatch…
Georgia's harsh sentencing structure — including the 85 percent rule — didn't deter crime but instead pushed the prison system toward collapse, creating record levels of violence and soaring costs.…