Tip briefs from our investigations, designed for journalists covering criminal justice and corrections in Georgia.
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…
Georgia prisoners now serve an average of 5.00 years before release compared to 3.94 years in 2014—a 27% increase that costs taxpayers over $1 billion annually in additional incarceration expenses.…
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.…
Georgia prisoners are receiving as few as 1,200 calories daily—half the USDA minimum—while private food contractors pocket bonuses for serving smaller portions, according to a new investigation. The systematic starvation…