Georgia Ignores Proven Gang Segregation While Prisons Kill 100+ Annually

Georgia's prisons killed over 100 people in 2024 alone through preventable gang violence, while the state refuses to implement gang segregation that reduced violence by 50% in other states.

Gang violence has killed over 100 people in Georgia prisons in 2024 alone, with the entire system on lockdown for weeks following a January 11 massacre at Washington State Prison that killed four men, including one just 72 hours from release. The Department of Justice explicitly recommended gang segregation as a solution in October 2024, Arizona, Texas, and California have all implemented it with documented success reducing violence by 50% or more, yet Georgia's Department of Corrections continues housing rival gang members together—a pattern the DOJ called 'deliberate indifference' to constitutional violations.

Facility Breakdown

What GPS Documented (Original Findings)

• More than 100 homicides occurred in Georgia prisons in 2024 alone, out of 333 total deaths (GPS Mortality Database)
• Four medium security prisons house close security inmates at rates 10 times higher than other facilities (27-30% vs 0-3%) (GPS analysis of GDC Monthly Statistical Reports)
• Washington State Prison operated with 5 officers covering 69 posts on January 11, 2026, when four inmates died (GPS analysis of staffing records)
• GDC stopped reporting causes of death in March 2024, coinciding with the spike in homicides (GPS analysis of GDC death reporting)
• Georgia spent $700 million more on corrections between FY 2022-2026 than the previous four years (GPS analysis of state budget documents)

Data source: GPS analysis of GDC Monthly Reports and family interviews

What DOJ Already Confirmed

• 142 homicides confirmed in Georgia prisons from 2018 to 2023, likely underreported (Pages Pages 20-21)
• Georgia prisons exhibited 'deliberate indifference' constituting 'among the most severe constitutional violations' the Civil Rights Division has ever found (Pages Pages 1-2, 88-90)
• Gangs control multiple aspects of day-to-day life including access to phones, showers, food, and bed assignment (Pages Pages 35-42)
• Unabated trafficking of drugs and weapons facilitated by staff (Pages Pages 43-48)
• DOJ made 82 recommendations including reevaluating housing and inmate classification processes (Pages Pages 84-93)

What GDC Concealed

• GDC houses known rival gang members together despite DOJ recommendations to separate them
• GDC misclassifies medium security facilities by concentrating close security inmates without upgrading staffing or protocols
• GDC dismissed reports of undisclosed homicides as 'propaganda' despite DOJ confirmation
• GDC has not responded to questions about implementing gang segregation despite proven success in other states

Quotables

"When you put Bloods and GDs in the same dorm, you're not creating a housing arrangement—you're building a bomb."

— Incarcerated source speaking to GPS

"Gangs control multiple aspects of day-to-day life in the prisons we investigated, including access to phones, showers, food and bed assignment."

— Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke, DOJ

"Georgia can separate the gangs—or keep burying the dead."

— Georgia Prisoners' Speak analysis

"This is what a system in collapse looks like. And every death was foreseeable, every death was preventable, and every death was ignored."

— Georgia Prisoners' Speak analysis

Story Angles

• Local: Focus on families in your county affected by prison deaths — GPS can connect you with families of victims from specific facilities. Map which counties send the most people to the deadliest prisons.
• Policy: Georgia spending $700 million more while deaths increase — compare cost of implementing gang segregation (staff training, classification systems) versus current costs of violence ($383,000 for one incident).
• Accountability: Commissioner Oliver dismissed deaths as 'propaganda' while DOJ documented constitutional violations. Track what officials knew when, who ignored warnings, and who profits from the status quo.
• Data: Request monthly statistical reports to verify classification fraud. Build database showing correlation between gang mixing, understaffing, and death rates. Compare Georgia's 100+ homicides to states with gang segregation.

Records Journalists Should Request

Georgia Open Records Act:

1. GDC Monthly Statistical Reports — Georgia Department of Corrections
2. Death Records and Incident Reports — Georgia Department of Corrections
3. Staffing Records and Duty Rosters — Georgia Department of Corrections
4. Security Threat Group Intelligence Files — Georgia Department of Corrections
5. GBI Investigation Records - Warden Brian Adams — Georgia Bureau of Investigation

Federal FOIA:

1. DOJ Civil Rights Division communications with GDC regarding gang segregation recommendations — DOJ Civil Rights Division
2. DOJ investigation interview transcripts and supporting documents — DOJ Civil Rights Division

Sources Available for Interview

Families:

• Family of Jimmy Trammell
• Family of Jerry W. Merritt
• Family of Melvin Johnson
• Family of Stephen Wood
• Family of Darrow Brown

Incarcerated Witnesses:

• Incarcerated witness, anonymous, background only
• Incarcerated sources with knowledge of Jerry Merritt killing

Experts:

• Not currently available — N/A

Officials Who Should Be Asked for Comment

• Tyrone Oliver, Commissioner — Ultimate authority for implementing gang segregation; dismissed deaths as 'propaganda'
• Brian Kemp, Governor — Executive authority over GDC; proposed $372 million in corrections investments
• Kristen Clarke, Assistant Attorney General — Led DOJ investigation; can speak to federal enforcement options
• Unknown, Warden — Facility head where January 11 massacre occurred with 5 officers covering 69 posts

Questions GDC Has Not Answered

1. Why does GDC continue to house known rival gang members together despite DOJ recommendations?
2. Why did GDC stop reporting causes of death in March 2024?
3. Did Commissioner Oliver sign off on housing close security inmates in medium facilities at 10x normal rates?
4. What specific steps has GDC taken to implement DOJ's 82 recommendations?

Source Documents

• DOJ Findings Report on Georgia Prisons — 93-page report documenting deliberate indifference, 142 homicides, gang control, and 82 recommendations
• GPS Mortality Database — Searchable database of 1,620 deaths in Georgia prisons since 2020
• NIJ Gang Management Study — Study showing Arizona's gang segregation reduced violence by 50%
• GBI Press Release - Warden Brian Adams Arrest — Official announcement of RICO charges against Smith State Prison warden
• Georgia Budget and Policy Institute FY 2026 Overview — Analysis showing $700 million increase in corrections spending
• GPS Article: Prisneyland - What Prison Should Be — Comparison to California's Valley State Prison with zero homicides
• GPS Article: Georgia Prison Security Levels 2025 — Analysis of classification fraud at medium security facilities