Georgia Prisoners’ Speak
The Campaign for Post-Conviction Justice
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
An estimated 2,500 innocent people are in Georgia’s prisons. The National Academy of Sciences (2014) found at least 4.1% of death-sentenced defendants are innocent; GPS applies a 5% floor to Georgia’s prison population to reach that estimate. The state’s broken post-conviction system likely pushes the true rate much higher — Virginia’s analysis estimated 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 — $31,614 a year each, GDC’s own FY2024 figure for state prisons, before the $75,000 a year Georgia now owes in statutory compensation when a conviction is overturned.
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. Habeas Corpus Repeal — The Doorway Reform
Full repeal of the 4-year habeas deadline. Since 1967, habeas corpus has been the only proceeding that hears a constitutional claim after direct appeal — so every other reform on this page is received by a proceeding governed by a clock that nothing stops. The reforms below decide where a claim is heard; this one decides whether it can be heard at all. For over 800 years no legislature extinguished habeas corpus for filing late — not even the Habeas Corpus Act of 1679, which Georgia’s own Code cites. If you are innocent, you should be able to prove it regardless of when you discover the evidence. See how all fifty states handle this → · How Georgia habeas actually works — and how rarely its escape doors open →
2. 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 state the right: a void judgment “is a mere nullity,” and habeas relief “shall be granted to avoid a miscarriage of justice.” Georgia’s courts hear those claims in habeas corpus — which is why the deadline repeal above is how they reach a courtroom. No separate bill is needed: repealing the deadline restores the remedy these statutes promise, and GPS withdrew its earlier restoration bill accordingly. Read the full argument — the right, the three closed remedies, and the repair →
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. Expand plain-error review to all claims in criminal cases, as the federal system allows, so record-based errors can be corrected on direct appeal without requiring an ineffectiveness claim — an extension the Chief Justice has said he would not oppose.
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. The lead bill is the Habeas Corpus Restoration Act, which carries Priorities 1 and 2 — repealing the deadline both reopens the writ and restores the § 17-9-4 remedy, so no separate constitutional-violations bill is needed. The IAC process reform (Priority 3) is the Chief Justice’s own proposal, now before the House Study Committee, with the Plain Error Review Act carrying the plain-error expansion; the Conviction Integrity Act carries Priority 5.
The State’s Own Numbers
Georgia counts these cases. It just never reports what happens to them.
The state’s own superior court caseload reports show 4,425 habeas corpus petitions filed and 3,955 disposed between 2021 and 2025 — roughly nine hundred a year. 58.4% of those litigants had no lawyer, more than double the statewide rate, and 94.4% of petitions were filed in counties holding a prison. What the reports never record is an outcome — and a full-text search for the statute’s newly-discovered-evidence exception, § 9-14-42(c)(4), returns eight published decisions in its entire history. The system is not measurably working or failing. It is unmeasured by design.
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 bills →
Investigative Journalism
A multi-part 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. Program details and sign-up are at the Action Network page.
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.
Go Deeper
The campaign’s full evidence base — the three model bills, the “No Way Out” investigative series, eight policy briefs, targeted briefs for legislators and advocates, the Sanders v. State opinion, and the campaign timeline — lives in the Research Library. The hard questions get direct answers on their own page.
Every brief, bill, and dataset behind Vision 2027 — organized by audience, cited to primary authority.
“Won’t this overwhelm the courts?” “Is this soft on crime?” “What about finality?” — answered directly.
The factual record, verified claim by claim: the fifty states · how Georgia habeas actually works · the Sleeping Giants, argued.
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.
Happening Now: the House Post-Conviction Committee Is Taking Public Input
A Blue-Ribbon House study committee is examining Georgia’s post-conviction system ahead of the 2027 session — exactly the ground this campaign stands on. Tell them what you’ve lived and what should change, in two minutes, from your own email.
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
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