Georgia Prisoners' Speak

10/13/2026

𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴, 𝟭𝟲𝟵 𝗚𝗲𝗼𝗿𝗴𝗶𝗮𝗻𝘀 𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝟯𝟯𝟰 𝗹𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝗹𝗲𝗴𝗶𝘀𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀.

The subject was prison phones. Georgia has spent years trying to keep cell phones out of its prisons, and they keep getting in. The letters asked lawmakers to try something different: let monitored phones in, using systems the state has already paid for.

That's how the GPS Advocacy Network works. You sign up once. Each week we pick one issue and send a letter in your name to your own House member and state senator. You get a copy of every letter, and each one is checked against what you told us before it goes out.

Since March, our advocates have sent more than 6,000 letters. But a letter only goes to the legislators who represent the person sending it. Right now we have advocates in 102 of Georgia's 180 House districts. The other 78 House members aren't hearing from us at all.

The legislature convenes in January. We want an advocate in every district before then, so every member hears from people at home when prison bills come up.

If you have a loved one inside, or you just think Georgia's prisons need to change, you can sign up here. It's free.
gps.press/become-an-advocate

10/12/2026

𝗔 𝘄𝗼𝗺𝗮𝗻 𝗻𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗗𝗮𝘆𝘁𝗼𝗻𝗮 𝗕𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝗹𝗼𝘀𝘁 $𝟭𝟱,𝟬𝟬𝟬 𝘁𝗼 𝗮 𝗷𝘂𝗿𝘆-𝗱𝘂𝘁𝘆 𝘀𝗰𝗮𝗺. 𝗔 𝗙𝗹𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗱𝗮 𝘀𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗳𝗳 𝘀𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝗶𝘁'𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗿𝘂𝗻 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝘄𝗼 𝗚𝗲𝗼𝗿𝗴𝗶𝗮 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗼𝗻𝘀.

The call goes like this: you missed jury duty, there's a warrant out for you, and the fix is cash fed into a Bitcoin machine. Volusia County's sheriff says he has arrested about two dozen people over it in the past year.

Georgia's answer has been to seize phones. The U.S. Justice Department counted 12,483 recovered in under two years. GDC's own contraband reports list at least 271 of its own officers among the people arrested.

𝘚𝘦𝘪𝘻𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮. 𝘉𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮. 𝘉𝘶𝘺 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯.

The phones keep getting in. So do the calls.

GPS's position: stop trying to block what can't be blocked. Let registered, monitored phones in. Record the calls. Flag the scam scripts. Keep attorney calls private. A blocked phone gives the state a number, at best. A monitored phone gives it the call.

Read the full investigation, then share it with someone who still thinks more blocking is the answer.

https://gps.press/georgia-cant-block-its-way-out-of-prison-phone-scams-let-the-phones-in-and-listen/

Blocking and seizures haven't stopped prison phone scams. Why Georgia should allow registered, monitored phones inside its prisons.

10/12/2026

In Georgia, a person convicted of a felony has four years to challenge that conviction through habeas corpus. After that, the door closes, whether or not anyone has found out what went wrong at trial.

We are asking the General Assembly for one change: repeal the four-year deadline for any petition filed after the change, whatever the date of conviction, and let merit decide whether a claim is heard.

Read the committee papers and the fifty-state survey: https://gps.press/brc/

10/10/2026

If you have information about what's going on in a prison, please tell us. These reports feed our live intelligence system and informs our reporting in articles and data sent to the Georgia General Assembly. All reporting stays anonymous by design.

Seen violence, medical neglect, staff misconduct or retaliation inside a Georgia prison? Tell us. You can stay anonymous, and we never reveal our sources.

10/09/2026

“𝗜’𝘃𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗹𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗮 𝗸𝗻𝗶𝗳𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗺𝘆 𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝘁 𝗺𝘆 𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗰𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗰𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝘄𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗲 𝗜 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝘀𝗹𝗲𝗲𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴.”

That line comes from a first-person account published on Tell My Story. A cell door in most Georgia prisons won’t lock from the inside. And the locks the state keeps buying don’t hold.

On September 24, state fire inspectors walked into Washington State Prison and found padlocks and slide bolts on the cell doors of four housing units. The warden told them why: the built-in locks are broken.

Georgia lawmakers have enacted more than $120 million for prison locks since 2025. Asked on camera whether men can beat the locks GDC has, the commissioner answered in one word: “Yes.”

𝘗𝘢𝘥𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘥𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯. 𝘜𝘯𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵. 𝘖𝘯𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘰𝘳, 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘥𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴.

We followed thirteen years of lock contracts, prison by prison, and found a simpler fix already sitting in GDC’s own purchase records:
https://gps.press/georgia-keeps-buying-cell-locks-its-prisons-keep-using-padlocks/

If someone you love sleeps behind one of these doors, please share this. The people who vote on the next round of lock money should have to read it.

Fire inspectors found padlocks on Washington State Prison cell doors. Georgia has spent years and millions on new locks that men defeat within months.

10/08/2026

𝗦𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗻𝗲-𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿-𝗼𝗹𝗱 𝘀𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗻 𝗮 𝗪𝗲𝗱𝗻𝗲𝘀𝗱𝗮𝘆. 𝗕𝘆 𝗙𝗿𝗶𝗱𝗮𝘆, 𝗚𝗲𝗼𝗿𝗴𝗶𝗮 𝗵𝗮𝗱 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗲𝗱 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗺𝘂𝗿𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝗱 𝗱𝗲𝗻𝗶𝗲𝗱 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗯𝗼𝗻𝗱.

She is 29. Her lawyer said she had been up at night with a teething baby and was headed to a 12-hour shift at a Lawrenceville hospital. The plan that morning was daycare. She drove to work instead.

A police captain said she “forgot to make that second trip.” When police told her that her son was dead, the captain said, she “was devastated.”

She spent about six weeks in jail. She was let out once, to grieve her son before his funeral.

𝘈 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥. 𝘈 𝘮𝘶𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘦. 𝘈 𝘫𝘢𝘪𝘭 𝘤𝘦𝘭𝘭.

On September 30, a Florida appeals court looked at the same kind of death. A nanny. A sleeping ten-month-old. Five hours in the heat. The court threw out the murder conviction and wrote that “it was Rhonda Jewell’s fault. But it was an accident.”

Georgia wrote its own answer into law in 2014: second-degree murder, ten to thirty years. Two Georgia mothers whose babies died in hot cars have already pleaded guilty to it. Twenty years each.

A memory researcher who studies these deaths says: “It can happen to everyone.” Read this before you decide what you think. Then share it.

A Florida court threw out a nanny's murder conviction for a forgotten baby. Georgia still charges grieving parents with murder for the same accident.

10/07/2026

𝗦𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝘄𝗮𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗻 𝗮 𝗚𝗲𝗼𝗿𝗴𝗶𝗮 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗼𝗹𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻. 𝗙𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝘃𝗼𝘁𝗲 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗳𝗶𝗹𝗲. 𝗡𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝘁 𝗶𝘁.

Board staff did. A Hearing Examiner sets the crime severity level, works out the risk score and writes the summary the members read. In FY2025 the Board decided 13,743 of these guidelines cases.

Two of the most heavily weighted risk inputs for men carry the prison system's name: "GDC Validated Gang Member" and "GDC Any Violent DR Charge." The Board's own chart doesn't say who enters them or who can correct one that's wrong.

𝘞𝘩𝘰 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘤𝘬𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘭𝘦? 𝘞𝘩𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘹𝘦𝘴 𝘢 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦? 𝘞𝘩𝘰 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘤𝘬𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘳𝘴?

One unit audits the work. It sits in the same division that builds the files. Its FY2025 report gives no count of cases audited and no count of errors found.

And Georgia law classifies everything the members receive as "confidential state secrets." Leaking one is a misdemeanor.

Whether you think Georgia paroles too many people or too few, you should want the file to be right.

https://gps.press/who-builds-the-file-five-members-vote-on-georgias-parole-guidelines-and-the-one-unit-that-checks-them/

Share this with anyone who has a loved one waiting on the Board. Your legislators can ask for the audit numbers. Link to message them is in the article’s Call To Action section.

Staff build the file five Georgia Parole Board members vote on. One internal unit audits it and publishes no results. Here is the design.

10/04/2026

“𝗛𝗲’𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝗧𝗶𝗲𝗿.”

If someone you love is in a Georgia prison, you may have heard it on a phone call or read it in a letter. It gets said as if everyone already knows what it means.

So we wrote it down, using the Georgia Department of Corrections’ own rules.

𝘛𝘪𝘦𝘳 𝘐. 𝘛𝘪𝘦𝘳 𝘐𝘐. 𝘛𝘪𝘦𝘳 𝘐𝘐𝘐. 𝘚𝘛𝘌𝘗.

What GDC’s written policies say:

▪ Tier I can’t run past 30 days, except in protective custody.
▪ Tier II has no maximum stay. The floor is five hours a week outside the cell.
▪ Tier III is the Special Management Unit: a 13-month minimum.
▪ Tier I and Tier II appeals are due within three business days.

GDC’s policy says Tier II “is not a punishment measure.” The people held in it, and their families, tell us something very different.

The guide ends with the questions to ask your loved one and the dates to keep track of.

Know a family who has heard those three words? Share this with them.

A family guide to Georgia's Tier segregation system: Tier I, Tier II, the Special Management Unit and STEP, under GDC's own rules, with GDC's bed counts.

09/30/2026

"𝗜 𝗮𝗺 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗜 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗱. 𝗜 𝗮𝗺 𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗜 𝘀𝗮𝘄."

Dr. Rachelle Terry spent more than two years inside Georgia's women's prisons — Arrendale, then Pulaski. She came home in August 2025. Then she wrote to the lawmakers who could fix what she left behind.

Drugs offered to her inside a secure facility. Women waiting on medical care. Women beaten unconscious, no staff there to stop it. Programs cancelled because no one was on shift to run them.

She isn't asking anyone to forget what she did. She's asking Georgia to make corrections actually correct.

While she was inside, at least 17 women died at those two prisons. For 12 of them, the state has never said how.

Her letter, in full, with what the state's own records show:
https://gps.press/i-am-telling-you-what-i-saw-a-letter-from-georgias-womens-prisons/

Tomorrow she plans to email it to every member of the House and Senate. Share it tonight so they've already heard her name.

A formerly incarcerated woman's letter to Georgia lawmakers on Arrendale and Pulaski, in full, with what the state's own records show.

09/26/2026

𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗰𝘂𝘀 𝗪𝗮𝗹𝗸𝗲𝗿 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝟮𝟬. 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗳𝗳 𝗮𝘁 𝗪𝗶𝗹𝗰𝗼𝘅 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗼𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝗵𝗶𝗺 𝗱𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗲𝗹𝗹 𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗮𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗺𝗮𝗻. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗿𝘂𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝘁 𝗮 𝗵𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗱𝗲: 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗴𝘂𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻.

Georgia’s prison commissioner knows where these killings happen. He told state senators that half the homicides his department investigated were “roommate on roommate.” His fix, in his own words: “The single bunk thing … that’s the solution.”

At four prisons, GDC is doing the opposite.

𝘉𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘯. 𝘏𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦. 𝘍𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘮𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘪𝘵𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘴 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘢𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦.

Calhoun, Dooly, Washington and Wilcox were each built with 500 single cells. Wilcox now holds 1,824 men. At Calhoun, four in ten carry Close security, the classification GDC reserves for people with an “assaultive criminal or institutional history.”

In the past 12 months, 10 men were killed at those four prisons. They hold about a quarter of the men in Georgia’s medium-security prisons, and more than half of the homicides.

All four are nationally accredited, with scores near 98%.

The commissioner named the fix. His department isn’t using it. Read the records GDC sent us, and share this so more people see what their prison system is doing.

https://gps.press/three-to-a-cell-georgias-commissioner-says-single-cells-cut-the-violence-four-prisons-do-the-opposite/

GDC's commissioner says single cells cut violence. Four Georgia medium prisons triple-bunk Close security men, and their homicide rate is far higher.