Georgia Prisoners’ Speak
Stakeholder Brief | March 2026
VISION 2027
Post-Conviction Justice Reform for the State of Georgia
A Once-in-a-Generation Opportunity
On March 3, 2026, seven of nine Georgia Supreme Court justices acknowledged that the state’s post-conviction system is fundamentally broken. Chief Justice Nels Peterson’s concurrence went further — declaring that the current system is one “no rational person would have chosen” and calling directly on the Georgia General Assembly to fix it.
This is not an advocacy talking point. It is the position of Georgia’s highest court. For the first time, reformers have the explicit backing of the judiciary — and a political window to act. Read the Sanders v. State opinion →
The Political Window
2026 is an election year. Georgia will elect a new Governor, Lt. Governor, and all 180 House members. Every candidate must take a position.
Governor Kemp is term-limited. A new administration taking office in January 2027 creates a rare opening for bold reform.
The 2027 legislative session is our target. Bills must be filed and passed between mid-January and late February 2027. The clock is already running.
Why This Matters
A conservative 5% wrongful conviction rate puts 2,500 innocent people in Georgia’s prisons (National Academy of Sciences, 2014). But Georgia’s broken post-conviction system likely pushes that number much higher — closer to the 10% range, approaching 5,000. Virginia estimated its wrongful conviction rate at 11.6%.
Note: The NAS figure derives from a death-penalty-specific study. GPS uses it as a conservative floor — death penalty cases receive far more scrutiny than the non-capital cases that make up the vast majority of Georgia convictions, meaning the actual wrongful conviction rate is likely higher. A detailed methodology note is available on request.
The average exoneration takes 14 years — but Georgia gives prisoners only 4 years to challenge their conviction.
Devonia Inman spent 23 years in prison for a murder DNA proved he did not commit — prosecutors had suppressed the evidence. Joey Watkins served over 22 years after key information was withheld at trial. Richard James Harper spent over 40 years imprisoned after his case was used to eliminate the very legal remedy he sought. These are not statistics. They are Georgians.
Georgia taxpayers spend tens of millions of dollars per year incarcerating people who should not be in prison — at $75,000 per prisoner annually.
Only 3 of Georgia’s 159 counties have any mechanism to review potentially wrongful convictions.
The Georgia Post-Conviction Justice Act
The Sanders opinion focused on the broken IAC process, but the problems run deeper. GPS has identified seven critical failures in Georgia’s post-conviction system that demand legislative action:
Priority Reforms
1. Constitutional Violations — Waking the Sleeping Giants
Two existing Georgia statutes — O.C.G.A. § 17-9-4 (1863) and O.C.G.A. § 9-14-48(d) — already provide the tools to address convictions obtained through constitutional violations. The legislature must restore these statutes to their plain meaning through restorative overrides that reverse decades of judicial narrowing.
Codify the reforms Chief Justice Peterson called for in Sanders v. State: move ineffective-assistance-of-counsel claims to habeas proceedings, end conflict-of-interest barriers, and establish a right to appointed counsel.
Full repeal of the 4-year habeas deadline. Habeas corpus has existed without a time limit for over 600 years. If you are innocent, you should be able to prove it regardless of when you discover the evidence.
Additional Reforms
4. Right to Legal Access — Meaningful law library access, post-conviction counsel, and the right to obtain case files.
5. Conviction Integrity — Statewide conviction integrity commission and mandated local CIUs. Georgia currently covers only 3 of 159 counties.
6. Plea Bargain Reform — End coercive plea practices. Require evidence disclosure before pleas and limit trial penalties.
7. Prosecutor Accountability — Establish an independent prosecutor review board, require annual disclosure reporting, and impose meaningful penalties for prosecutors who suppress evidence of innocence.
These seven priorities are consolidated into three model bills — each designed to stand alone, but together forming the most comprehensive post-conviction reform package in Georgia history.
Already Accomplished
Exoneree Compensation — The Wrongful Conviction and Incarceration Compensation Act (SB 244) was signed into law by Governor Kemp on May 14, 2025, making Georgia the 39th state with exoneree compensation. GPS is monitoring implementation and advocating for strengthened reentry services. The seven priorities above are the next steps in a reform sequence that is already producing results.
The GPS Campaign
GPS is executing a year-long campaign to build the political will, public understanding, and legislative framework needed to pass the Georgia Post-Conviction Justice Act in the 2027 session. Our approach has four pillars:
Actual bill text, drafted in Georgia General Assembly format, reviewed by legal experts and allied organizations, ready for sponsors to file. Read the three bills →
Investigative Journalism
A 10-article series — “No Way Out” — building the public case for reform through deep reporting on Georgia’s post-conviction failures.
Grassroots Advocacy — The GPS Action Network
The GPS Action Network is a sustained constituent advocacy program that connects Georgians directly with their state legislators on post-conviction reform. Subscribers sign up once and authorize GPS to send personalized weekly advocacy emails to their specific House and Senate representatives — a new topic each week, timed to the campaign’s phases, for the duration of the campaign.
The system uses AI to generate unique, personalized emails for each subscriber-legislator pair. Every subscriber receives a copy of each email sent in their name and can opt out at any time. Topics rotate through all seven reform priorities, timed to the article series, coalition milestones, and — during the 2027 session — to committee hearings and floor votes.
This is not a petition. It is sustained, personalized constituent contact — the single most effective form of legislative advocacy.
Coalition Building
Shared ownership of the reform agenda with Georgia’s leading justice organizations — each bringing unique strengths to a common goal.
Campaign Timeline
This campaign has four phases, timed to the political calendar. Coalition partners and stakeholders should use this timeline to plan their own engagement.
Phase 1: Foundation — Spring 2026 (March–June)
Research and documentation. Model legislation drafting and coalition review. Launch of the GPS Action Network. Policy briefs published. First articles in the “No Way Out” series. Coalition partners: this is the window for model legislation feedback and co-sponsorship discussions.
Phase 2: Election Season — Summer–Fall 2026 (July–November)
Candidate engagement on post-conviction reform. Nonpartisan questionnaires to all gubernatorial and legislative candidates. Public education campaign. Weekly Action Network emails running. Continued investigative reporting. Coalition partners: coordinate messaging, share talking points, co-sign public letters.
Phase 3: Pre-Session Push — Winter 2026–27 (November–January)
Finalize bill language with coalition input. Secure legislative sponsors in both chambers. Brief the incoming Governor and committee chairs. Line up hearing witnesses. Action Network emails increase to twice weekly. Coalition partners: sponsor approach begins — your relationships with legislators matter most here.
Phase 4: Legislative Session — January–March 2027
Bills filed and moving through committee. Action Network emails timed to hearings and floor votes. Coordinated constituent testimony. Real-time progress tracking. Rapid-response media. Crossover Day deadline: late February/early March 2027.
Now Available
No Way Out: A 10-Part Investigative Series
Each article documents a door that was sealed, who sealed it, who is trapped behind it, and how to reopen it. The full series plan — all ten articles, four phases, timed to the 2027 legislative session.
Now Available
Model Legislation: Three Bills for the 2027 Session
The complete legislative package — actual bill text in Georgia General Assembly format — ready for sponsors to file. Bill A restores existing law. Bill B repeals the habeas deadline. Bill C builds the infrastructure Georgia has never had.
Policy Briefs
GPS has developed detailed policy briefs analyzing the structural failures in Georgia’s post-conviction system — the specific legal mechanisms by which justice is promised and then denied. These briefs provide the analytical foundation for the Georgia Post-Conviction Justice Act.
The Deadline That Bars the Innocent →
Georgia’s four-year habeas corpus deadline has no exception for actual innocence, newly discovered evidence, or equitable tolling. A 50-state comparison reveals Georgia as a national outlier. The average exoneration takes 14 years. Georgia gives prisoners 4.
Reclaiming the Legislature’s Statute →
The constitutional case for legislative action. When the judiciary rewrites a statute, it performs a legislative act it has no power to perform. This brief presents the separation-of-powers argument for restoring § 17-9-4 to its plain meaning.
A criminal procedure statute that can’t be used to challenge criminal convictions. How the Georgia Supreme Court read the word “judgment” out of O.C.G.A. § 17-9-4 — and why one clarifying sentence would restore 160 years of plain meaning.
Georgia’s “earliest practicable moment” doctrine forces defendants to raise ineffective-counsel claims within 30 days — while the same incompetent lawyer is still representing them. No other state combines this timing trap with every other restriction.
Behind the Locked Library Door →
Georgia meets its constitutional obligation to provide court access with law libraries — and only law libraries. No trained legal assistants. No post-conviction counsel. COVID shuttered them for years. The habeas deadline kept running.
The Conviction Integrity Gap →
156 of 159 Georgia counties have no way to catch a wrongful conviction. This brief surveys the North Carolina independent commission model, Texas’s CIU landscape, and proposes a hybrid model — including the nation’s first CIU mandate — at a cost of 0.14% of the corrections budget.
95% of Georgia felonies end in plea bargains. Defendants who go to trial face sentences averaging 3x longer for the same crime. Georgia has no pre-plea discovery requirement, no trial penalty limit, and no data on how outcomes vary by race or county.
The Prosecutor Accountability Gap →
Georgia’s Rule 3.8 requires prosecutors to disclose evidence of innocence and remedy wrongful convictions. But the enforcement mechanism is structurally broken — 88.6% of grievances dismissed at intake, and only 0.66% of complaints result in any public action.
Legislative Briefs
GPS Research Explainers distill complex legal research into targeted briefings for legislators and staff — focusing on policy options, bill language, fiscal impact, and the case for action.
The Sleeping Giants: Legislator Brief →
Two Georgia statutes — one from 1863, the other containing the strongest safety-valve language in Georgia law — already provide the tools for post-conviction reform. How restorative overrides can restore them to their plain meaning.
IAC Process Reform: The Fix That Costs Nothing →
Chief Justice Peterson asked the legislature to fix Georgia’s broken IAC process. Bill A, Part III does exactly that — eliminating the timing trap, providing right to counsel, and allowing evidentiary development. Zero appropriations required.
Georgia’s Habeas Corpus Deadline: The Nation’s Most Rigid Barrier →
A 50-state comparison reveals Georgia’s four-year habeas deadline as a national outlier — more restrictive than federal anti-terrorism law. The fiscal and constitutional case for full repeal.
Legal Access in Georgia Prisons →
The state denies meaningful court access to 47,000+ people — at a cost Georgia cannot afford. Constitutional standards, current failures, and the legislative framework for reform.
Conviction Integrity Units: Georgia Covers 3 of 159 Counties →
Taxpayers fund wrongful imprisonment at $75,000 per person per year while 156 counties have no mechanism to catch it. The Texas and North Carolina models, and a hybrid approach for Georgia.
Prosecutor Accountability: 0.66% Discipline Rate →
Georgia’s prosecutorial oversight system lets 99.3% of complaints go without public action. The case for an independent prosecutor review board and mandatory disclosure reporting.
Wrongful Convictions in Georgia: An Estimated 2,500 Innocent People →
The scope and scale of wrongful conviction in Georgia, the data behind the estimates, and the fiscal cost of incarcerating people who should not be in prison.
A legislator brief on plea bargain reform (Priority 6) is in development and will be published as the campaign progresses.
Advocacy Briefs
Detailed legal analysis and strategic advocacy toolkits for attorneys, advocates, and organizations working on post-conviction reform.
The Sleeping Giants: Advocate Brief →
The full legal analysis of Georgia’s dormant post-conviction statutes — including the separation-of-powers argument, the Thompson v. Talmadge void act doctrine, federal constitutional foundations, and the restorative override framework modeled on the Civil Rights Act of 1991.
IAC Process Reform: Strategic Advocacy Guide →
The most restrictive IAC process in the nation — legal analysis of all six restrictions, coalition opportunities, audience-specific messaging, objection responses, and litigation backup strategies if legislative reform stalls.
Georgia’s Habeas Corpus Deadline: Advocacy Toolkit →
The most rigid habeas deadline in the nation — strategic analysis for advocates, including constitutional arguments, state-by-state comparison data, and the case law trajectory that makes legislative repeal the only durable path.
Legal Access in Georgia Prisons: Strategic Advocacy Guide →
Constitutional standards, GDC regulatory failures, reform models from other states, and a strategic framework for the Georgia Post-Conviction Justice Act’s legal access provisions.
Conviction Integrity Units: Advocacy Toolkit →
How advocates can push Georgia to address its wrongful conviction crisis. The North Carolina independent commission model, the Texas CIU landscape, and the proposed hybrid model for Georgia.
Prosecutor Accountability: The Enforcement Gap — Advocacy Toolkit →
Georgia’s Rule 3.8 enforcement is structurally broken. Strategic analysis of the accountability gap, reform models, and the case for an independent prosecutor review board.
Wrongful Convictions in Georgia: Advocacy Toolkit →
The scope and scale of wrongful conviction in Georgia, the evidence base, and an actionable advocacy framework for organizations working to address the crisis.
An advocacy brief on plea bargain reform (Priority 6) is in development.
The Sanders v. State Opinion
The entire Vision 2027 campaign is anchored on Sanders v. State, No. S26A0222 (Georgia Supreme Court, March 3, 2026). Chief Justice Nels Peterson’s concurrence — joined by seven of nine justices — called Georgia’s post-conviction system “a mess” created by “well-meaning but short-sighted decisions” and called directly on the General Assembly to act.
“No rational person would have chosen the system we have today.”
— Chief Justice Nels S.D. Peterson, concurring (joined by 6 additional justices)
The concurrence begins on page 11. Peterson’s analysis of the IAC timing trap, the conflict-of-interest problem, and his direct call for legislative action are on pages 12–19.
Questions & Objections
Stakeholders, legislators, and skeptics will rightly ask hard questions about this reform package. Here are the most common concerns and our responses.
“If you reopen every conviction, you’ll overwhelm the courts.”
Repealing the habeas deadline does not mean every conviction gets relitigated. Petitioners must still demonstrate a valid constitutional claim — the merits standard doesn’t change. What changes is that the courthouse door stays open. Illinois has had no habeas deadline for decades and has not experienced a flood of frivolous filings. The overwhelming majority of prisoners do not have viable claims and will not file. Those who do have viable claims are, by definition, the people the system should be hearing.
“This is soft on crime.”
This is the opposite. When an innocent person is in prison, the guilty person is free. Every wrongful conviction means an unsolved crime and a victim without justice. Conviction integrity is not soft on crime — it is the definition of getting it right. Chief Justice Peterson, a conservative jurist appointed by Governor Deal, is not soft on crime. Seven of nine justices on Georgia’s highest court called for these reforms.
“Bill C’s new institutions will cost too much.”
The Georgia Conviction Integrity Commission would cost approximately $1.5–2.0 million annually — 0.14% of the corrections budget. Meanwhile, incarcerating people who should not be in prison costs $75,000 per person per year. If the commission identifies even 20 wrongful convictions annually, it pays for itself. Bills A and B require zero appropriations. Legal access, plea reform, and prosecutor disclosure requirements in Bill C take effect immediately without funding.
“Why can’t the court fix this itself?”
Chief Justice Peterson answered this directly: the problems are “creatures of decisional law” — rules the court created through decades of case-by-case decisions. The court could reverse course, but seven justices chose instead to call on the legislature to act. Why? Because legislative action is more durable, more comprehensive, and more democratically legitimate than judicial reversal. The legislature created the habeas deadline. Only the legislature can repeal it. The separation-of-powers argument for legislative action is detailed in our brief: Reclaiming the Legislature’s Statute →
“How do you know 2,500 people are wrongfully convicted?”
The 5% figure comes from a 2014 study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, which estimated the false conviction rate among death-sentenced defendants at 4.1%. GPS uses 5% as a conservative floor applied to Georgia’s approximately 50,000 felony prisoners. Because death penalty cases receive far greater scrutiny than non-capital cases, the actual wrongful conviction rate for the general prison population is likely higher. Virginia’s analysis estimated 11.6%. Even at the conservative 5% floor, that is 2,500 Georgians.
“Finality matters. Victims need closure.”
Finality built on a wrongful conviction is not closure — it is a second injustice. When the wrong person is convicted, the victim’s family believes justice was done while the actual perpetrator remains free. True finality comes from getting the right answer, not from stopping the question. Every exoneration in Georgia history has also been a cold case reopened.
What We’re Asking
GPS is building a coalition of organizations that share the goal of fixing Georgia’s post-conviction system. We are not asking anyone to sign on to our agenda — we are inviting partners to help shape a shared one. The ask is straightforward:
- Meet with us to review our research and the proposed reform package.
- Review and improve our model legislation drafts with your expertise.
- Co-own the final package — organizations that contribute become co-sponsors.
- Coordinate messaging, share intelligence, and divide labor for maximum impact.
Get Involved
Whether you’re a legislator, advocate, attorney, or concerned Georgian — there’s a role for you in this campaign.
Join the Action Network Become an Advocate Find Your Legislator
Organizations interested in joining the coalition can reach us directly at accountability@gps.press
“Chief Justice Peterson gave us the opening. The 2027 session is the window. The question for every leader in Georgia is: will you fix it, or will you leave it broken?”
Contact: gps.press | info@gps.press
Georgia Prisoners’ Speak