This story appeared originally in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. A late-session attempt to revive an effort to standardize the compensation process for people who’ve been imprisoned on wrongful convictions in Georgia failed to make it across the finish line. Six men who’ve been exonerated of crimes the courts now say they didn’t commit will not receive […]
Incarceration
Posted inCourts, Criminal Justice, Incarceration
Pretrial Diversion: Ask Your Lawyer if You Qualify for Program to Dodge Trial
Whether you are paying for your own criminal defense lawyer or have been assigned a public defender, they will have to help you through the application process. Pretrial diversion programs redirect certain, usually first time, offenders away from the jailhouse and back into the community, often with community service as part of the requirements to […]
Posted inIncarceration
Four Formerly Incarcerated People From South DeKalb Share Their Stories
This story was reported by Canopy Atlanta, a community-powered journalism nonprofit. This story was informed by feedback from the South DeKalb community as part of the South DeKalb Issue, a series of stories about the neighborhood. The Georgia Department of Corrections has 34 state prisons across the state, which house nearly 47,000 felony offenders. Formerly incarcerated South […]
Posted inIncarceration
What Killed Lashawn Thompson?
On Monday, Karo Thompson stood on the steps of the Georgia State Capitol speaking about his nephew, who died while incarcerated at Fulton County Jail. “Every person that was put in office, raised their right hand, they swore an oath to uphold their duties and responsibility,” he said, at the family’s press conference revealing the […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Incarceration
Fulton Jail Study Will Continue as Planned
The Justice Policy Board — a group of city and county leaders working with local organizations to develop arrest and incarceration diversion resources — will have to finish its jail population review before Fulton County is allowed to begin moving inmates into the Atlanta City Detention Center. By a vote of 9-5, the Atlanta City […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Incarceration
Fulton Jail Study Could be Sidestepped by City Council
There is a new development in the proposed plan to lease space in the Atlanta City Detention Center to Fulton County. The Public Safety and Legal Administration Committee voted to introduce legislation that would repeal an amendment requiring a jail population review before the agreement can go into effect. When the City Council voted to […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Incarceration
Why Does Atlanta Want to Lease Its Jail to Fulton County?
As local leaders and criminal justice advocates eagerly await the results of a Fulton County Jail inmate population study expected to be released this month, Atlanta’s recent decision to lease jail space to the county has drawn accusations of increasing mass incarceration. In August, the conversation around overcrowding in metro jails got contentious when the […]