Georgia’s $40 Billion Prison Experiment Failed — Violence Soared as Sentences Got Harsher
Georgia’s three-decade experiment with harsh sentencing and truth-in-sentencing laws cost taxpayers $30-40 billion while making prisons deadlier and more violent, prompting DOJ intervention and proving that deterrence-based policies fail. 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 …