Click here for a PDF version of the Georgia Right On Crime Statement of Principles.

In, Georgia, some 1 in 13 adults is under some form of correctional control: either on probation or parole, or behind bars.[i] This is the highest rate in the nation – the national average is 1 in 31.[ii] About 1 in 70 Georgia adults are behind bars. Georgia spends more than $1 billion per year on its prison system that houses approximately 53,000 inmates.[iii] Corrections costs have grown fivefold since 1985.[iv] Longer sentences have driven Georgia’s prison growth. For instance, the average inmate released in 2009 on a drug possession charge spent 21 months locked up, compared with 10 months in 1990.[v]

Georgia House Speaker David Ralston (R-Blue Ridge) says his colleagues need to take a closer look at the cost-effectiveness of their programs, stating: “I don’t think we ought to let public safety depend on getting a bargain basement price, but I think we do have to be conscious of the cost of incarceration.” He added, “I think the dialogue has already started.”

Ralston noted that he is a strong supporter of Georgia’s drug courts, an accountability and treatment approach for substance abuse offenders overseen by a judge.[vi] He said that cops and prosecutors tell him Georgia needs more discretion in the courtroom and more alternatives to prison.[vii]

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich urged Georgia policymakers to make improvements in the state’s corrections system in a March 2010 op-ed in the Atlanta Journal Constitution co-authored with former Virginia Attorney General Mark Earley, stating in part:

“If two-thirds of public school students dropped out, or two-thirds of all bridges built collapsed within three years, would citizens tolerate it? The people of Georgia would never stand for that kind of failure. But that is exactly what is happening all across the U.S. in our prison systems. Last year, some 20,000 people were released from Georgia's prisons to re-enter our communities. If trends of the past decade continue, two-thirds of them will be rearrested within three years. That failure rate is a clear and present threat to public safety. Not only is this revolving door a threat to public safety, but it results in an increasing burden on each and every taxpayer.”[viii]

As Georgia policymakers face tough budgetary times, it is an ideal opportunity to heed these calls for improving the state’s criminal justice system to produce more public safety for each taxpayer dollar invested.

[i] Carrie Teegardin and Bill Rankin, “A Billion Dollar Burden or Justice,” Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 23 Sept. 2010,
 http://www.ajc.com/news/government-waste/a-billion-dollar-burden-532578.html.
[ii] Ibid.
[iii] Ibid.
[iv] Ibid.
[v] Ibid.
[vi] Ibid.                                    
[vii] Ibid.
[viii] Newt Gingrich and Mark Earley, “Cutting Recidivism Saves Money and Lives,” Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 24 Mar. 2010, http://www.aei.org/article/101827.

• School Discipline: When Should Law Enforcement Step In?

  Posted in Georgia, Juvenile Justice, Priority Issues, ROC Blog, State Initiatives: April 19, 2012 by Jeanette Moll

  This week, several schools and districts are grappling with the issue of when—if ever—it is appropriate for police officers to get involved with school discipline issues. The Albuquerque school district, for example, is currently the defendant in a class action…

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  Posted in Georgia, Juvenile Justice, Priority Issues, ROC Blog, State Initiatives: April 4, 2012 by Mike Klein

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• An Update on Adult Corrections Reform in Georgia

  Posted in Georgia, Priority Issues, Prisons, ROC Blog, State Initiatives: April 4, 2012 by Mike Klein

  When the final ink was dry, everyone in the Georgia legislature agreed it is time to move forward with widespread criminal justice reform. The House voted 162-0 and the Senate 51-0 in March on legislation that will emphasize treatment programs over hard-time incarceration for some property crime offenders…

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• GPPF Releases New Paper by Right on Crime Senior Advisers

  Posted in Georgia, Priority Issues, Prisons, ROC Blog: February 16, 2012 by Timothy Cook

  Today, the Georgia Public Policy Foundation released a new report, “Peach State Criminal Justice: Controlling Costs, Protecting the Public,” by Right on Crime’s senior advisers, Marc Levin and Vikrant P. Reddy. The issue analysis reviews the recommendations made by the Special Council on Criminal Justice…

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