Georgia Prisoners’ Speak
Vision 2027 — The Campaign for Post-Conviction Justice
The Research Library
Every brief, bill, and dataset behind Vision 2027
Research Library
50-State Comparison
How Georgia Habeas Works
The Sleeping Giants, Argued
Questions & Objections
Everything on this page exists so that no one has to take the campaign’s word for anything. The model bills are actual legislative text. The briefs are cited to primary authority. The data pages carry per-claim sourcing. Start with the bills and the series; go as deep as your question requires.
Start Here
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. The lead bill, the Habeas Corpus Restoration Act, repeals the habeas deadline — restoring both the writ and the § 17-9-4 void-judgment remedy. The Conviction Integrity Act builds the infrastructure Georgia has never had. The Plain Error Review Act lets courts correct clear errors on direct appeal.
Now Available
No Way Out: A Multi-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 — every article, four phases, timed to the 2027 legislative session.
Evidence & Data
The factual record the argument stands on — each page verified claim by claim.
Post-Conviction Procedure in the Fifty States →
The full fifty-state reference built for the Blue-Ribbon Study Committee — instruments, deadlines, escape valves, per-state primary sourcing.
How Georgia Habeas Actually Works →
The machinery: the two non-overlapping tracks, the four accrual dates, Stubbs — and the measured rate at which the deadline’s escape doors have actually opened in twenty years of the visible record.
The Sleeping Giants, Argued: A Right With No Forum →
The void-judgment argument stated committee-grade: the right every Justice acknowledged, the three remedies that closed, and why only the General Assembly can restore the premise.
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 and no equitable tolling. Our 50-state comparison shows what actually sets Georgia apart — not the length of the deadline, but the combination: one of only four deadlines in the nation that can never be excused, with no innocence gateway, no right to counsel, and no merit screen before the merits. The average exoneration takes 14 years. Georgia gives prisoners 4.
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.
Briefs for Legislators & Advocates
The earlier audience-specific brief series has been folded into the policy briefs above — the legislator and advocate editions now point to the same pages. Two standalone briefs remain current:
IAC Process Reform: The Fix That Costs Nothing →
Chief Justice Peterson asked the legislature to fix Georgia’s broken IAC process. This is exactly that fix — eliminating the timing trap, providing right to counsel, and allowing evidentiary development. Zero appropriations required.
IAC Process Reform: Strategic Advocacy Guide →
The only state that pairs a never-excusable habeas deadline with a waiver trap on ineffective-assistance claims — legal analysis of all six restrictions, coalition opportunities, audience-specific messaging, objection responses, and litigation backup strategies if legislative reform stalls.
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.
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.
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