It is the wish of advocates to ensure that individuals within the correctional system and those who come into contact with the criminal legal system are not placed at an increased risk of COVID-19. We are calling for measures to be taken by state and local governments, law enforcement agencies, and correctional facilities in order to prevent and reduce the risk of harm to vulnerable individuals and the risk of contributing to community spread. 

All individuals in correctional facilities and in the custody of law enforcement are in a vulnerable situation made worse by the COVID-19 pandemic and it is in the interest of the public good and public health to protect vulnerable individuals around the state. It is not just the elderly or medically fragile who need to be taken into consideration. Younger and asymptomatic are also at risk and upon release can become accidental agents of spread in their families and community.

Arrest and incarceration for low-level offenses and “quality of life” crimes by local law enforcement agencies risks unnecessary exposure for both the individuals involved and the law enforcement official. 

Local county jails in Georgia on any given day have about 37,000 people in facilities across the state. However, because average stays in jail are about two weeks, many, many more than that pass through jails each year, with an estimated 240,000 people passing through Georgia county jails each year. This represents a huge risk for exposure and viral spread in communities throughout the state. It is a problem we should seek to aggressively address, and there are plenty of easy ways Georgia communities can do so.

Below follows a list of goals and recommendations to address the challenges and threats created by COVID-19 and faced by individuals within the correctional system in Georgia as well as the correctional staff and law enforcement officials that work for state and local governments. We recognize and appreciate those communities and agencies which have already undertaken some of these efforts. It requires a collective effort to protect the safety of individuals within the correctional system and our communities at large.

Goals and Recommendations:

1. Reduce arrest encounters between public and law enforcement for non-serious offenses
   • Local law enforcement agencies should implement “citation in lieu of arrest” for all non-serious crimes, including “quality of life” offenses and low-level drug offenses. 

2. Reduce the number of people detained and incarcerated in county and city jails.
   • Halt cash bail and implement the use of signatory bonds to avoid individuals being held in jail while awaiting trial.
   • Release individuals currently being held on bail on signatory bonds, which represents the majority of individuals held in a county jail on any given day.
   • Facilities releasing individuals should ensure that discharge planning occurs for individuals with a need for housing or other community-based services so that they can be connected to resources that will support safe re-entry.
   • Implement a grace period for individuals who are not able to pay their probation fees.

3. Take measures to ensure safety and wellbeing of individuals in correctional facilities
   • Access to free or at-cost communication for individuals continuing to be held in state and local correctional facilities.
   • Provide all individuals with increased access to soap and sanitation facilities.
   • Adopt policy that mandates the free and unrestricted access to feminine hygiene and menstrual products for women in Georgia state AND local correctional facilities.
   • Provision of cloth face masks to help reduce the spread of COVID among incarcerated individuals.
   • Restrict the use of the psychologically harmful practice of solitary confinement.
   • Eliminate co-pay fees for all medical services during this situation.
   • Provide regular access to no-cost telephonic mental health services.
   • Release of incarcerated pregnant women with less than a year remaining on their sentence (ACLU).

4. Prevent the creation of conditions that result in recidivism or encounters with the criminal legal system.
   • Halt the filing of evictions. Hundreds of thousands of hard working Georgians have had to file for unemployment since February and many more are facing financial hardship during this period. Although evictions cannot be carried out while court is not being held, the eviction filing still goes on their record and creates barriers to housing, putting them at significantly greater risk of homelessness and encounters with the legal system. 

5. Increased data reporting about the impact of COVID in state, county, and city facilities
   • Where state and local early releases or furloughed releases have occurred, and what number of people were released.
   • The number of reported infections in state facilities, including demographic details, and details about infections among facility staff. 
   • Reporting of measures state agencies are taking to protect state incarcerated individuals and correctional officers and staff.
   • Request of data from all county jails to report what measures are being taken to protect the health and safety of individuals in custody, as well as staff.

6. Make temporary accommodations to state and local probationary policies to address the impacts of COVID-19. The below recommendations come from advocate organization Georgia Justice Project, and we direct you to the entirety of the three-page document of recommendations, summarized below:
   • Waiving probation fees for at least six months, so fees do not accumulate;
   • Suspending restitution payments;
   • Suspending special conditions imposed as part of a sentence; and
   • Suspending issuance of probation warrants for technical violations.
     
7. Further, we endorse the coalition recommendations of the Georgia Justice Reform Partnership to the Georgia Department of Corrections and Board of Pardons and Paroles and direct you to the 4-page letter of recommendations.

The post Letter of Recommendations to Protect Individuals in Georgia’s Correctional System during COVID-19 appeared first on Reform Georgia.

The COVID-19 pandemic began to be recognized in Georgia in early March and the state officially began to respond in mid-March with a Public Health Emergency which was later followed by official changes to governmental and business operations applies across the state during the rest of March and all of April until reopening efforts began in mid-May.

Because of that timeline, our focus on data begins in January 2020, two months before any response activities began, so that we can compare the pre-COVID numbers to identify changes.

Key Figures

Statewide:

• 55,000 usually in state correctional facilities on average
• 37,000 usually in county facilities on average
• 236,000 unique admissions per year to county jails in Georgia

April to May

• 2.5% decline in state correctional populations from April to May

March to April

• 20% decline in county average populations from March to April
• Largest 11 county jails, representing 45% of the state’s county jail population, only declined 16.5% as a group
  • Only 3 of largest 11 county jails experienced a decline above state average, 20%
• DeKalb was the only county jail among largest 11 that had sustained growth (3%)

State and County Populations

Monthly population data published by the Georgia Department of Corrections for state correctional facilities (below) illustrates that the population has remained steady until the most recent data from May 1st when there was a 2.5% decrease of 1,377 individuals from April.

State Correctional Facilities Population Change, January to May 2020

We can likely attribute the majority of this drop in population to actions taken in response to COVID-19 to limit its impacts in state prisons and correctional facilities, including efforts to release some individuals early.

County Jail Statewide Population Change, January to April 2020

This data is released by DCA at the end of each month so the figures for May should soon be available to include in this analysis. The decline of 7,430 in average daily population from March to April is significant. We may expect and hope the downward trend to continue into May.

% Change at Top 11 Largest County Jails, March to April 2020

2020 month-to-month population % change in largest 11 county jails

The post May Update on COVID-19 in Georgia Justice System appeared first on Reform Georgia.

Carl founded Open Savannah, a Code for America brigade that worked on creating civic tech solutions to address community challenges and advocating for equity and justice.

You can read a memoriam from Jennifer Pahlka, Code for America Executive Director here. It illustrates how his impact extended far beyond Georgia’s borders. His obituary and online memorial wall can be found here.

I only had the privilege of knowing Carl since early 2018 when we started having conversations about turning the community group Reform Savannah into a bigger vision that became Reform Georgia. Darby said she had the perfect person to help us start the organization and be part of the team. She was right.

Carl really exemplified the impact that a single dedicated individual can have upon their community and the world around them.

He was passionate and dedicated in his effort to make Savannah a better community for everyone and he was adamant about working in collaboration with those who had been left out of the conversation, not to try to speak for them. In the face of frustration and unwillingness to change from existing systems and structures, Carl just wanted to help find solutions and to help DO the work with others.

I would see him leave comments on the City of Savannah’s Facebook page pushing them to do better and offering to help. They once posted an ugly graphic that was hard to read and he would ask them to let him make it better. I would joke with him over text message about what I thought was justifiable teasing of the city but he would tell me no – he didn’t mean it that way. He cared about what they were trying to do, and he wanted to help. The organization he founded, Open Savannah, continues to make Savannah a better city and is just part of his legacy. If you’re a Savannah local, consider getting involved.

I was rarely prepared for how genuine Carl was. He threw me off balance regularly, and I’m still grateful for those gut check moments.

It was with that spirit that Carl always came into the conversation. How can we help? How can we do things better? How can we include those who have been left out of the conversation?

At the end of September, Reform Georgia had our first strategic planning retreat as a team to talk about our goals and vision for 2020. Carl was in the midst of cleaning out the Open Savannah office because they were moving to a new office location and his fellowship funding had not been renewed by the county so he was planning to move on to something new and was moving out of his apartment. We were excited for what his next opportunity would be. I was selfishly hopeful he might move to Atlanta where we could benefit from his passion.

There were some notes on the board from our brainstorm discussions and he added to them, numbered them, and sent a photo with the message, “shared vision and norms.”

1. Show what’s possible.
2. Tell a story.
3. Strong data and emotional stories equal success.
4. Build a movement.

That was his line, “Build a movement.” He’d posted a photo of it spelled out on his light board on Facebook just a couple weeks earlier. It’s not a message we will easily forget.

Carl’s departure has left a hole in our world – one that is uniquely his own. Our team has only seem glimpses of the impact he has had on his friends, family, and colleagues, and the work he’s done around the country and beyond. He has left behind his thoughtful insights and inspiration to help us continue the work he believed in and to continue upholding the values he championed while he was with us. Let us try to honor his memory in that way.

Thank you, Carl. We miss you.

The post In Memoriam: Carl V. Lewis appeared first on Reform Georgia.

You might not think of prisoners as being prioritized atop any human rights action-oriented list. And, hopefully you’ll never have to find out —personally – why they do near top the list.

Prisoners, by definition, are persons being held in involuntary detainment by a branch of government – and, they are one of our most vulnerable populations across the board.

In academia, there are all sorts of hoops to jump through to do research on or with prisoners, because their ‘consent’ is not considered valid – or, at the very least, it is heavily questioned – when being kept involuntarily in detainment by the state.

It’s a horrible feeling to be so helpless in an environment where multitudes have maintained their dignity, sanity, or, personal safety by adopting attitudes of cold indifference (if not outright aggression).

At first blush, it might seem a bothersome idea – that such an issue could be a barrier to proper and much-needed studies on prison related and other criminal justice issues.

Yet looking down the proverbial chess board of possible outcomes and choices a person might face when under such constraints, it’s definitely a slippery slope. Who is to say that someone might not volunteer for a risky or downright harmful medical experiment just to shave off some time and keep their family intact?

And, what if that person is harmed?

What if that person is innocent?

What if they aren’t?

The key here is that anyone claiming power over our citizenry…to determine and detain persons at their discretion (especially in terms of pretrial detention which is already inherently problematic)…must legitimize themselves as trustworthy entities through consistent transparency and responsibility in their practices.

Unfortunately, this is not an easy issue. We can’t just point at the prison system and wag a finger about what all is wrong. The people working in the system are stressed as well… because in many, many ways it is indeed broken at a systemic level. This is old news.

And, this means there are many broken people on each side of the ‘invisible line’.

In Honduras, where gangs have taken over the inside of many prisons, the line is painted yellow and known as ‘linea de la muerte’ – the line of death…If a guard steps in…death…If an inmate steps out…death.

This should be enough to horrify anyone just in general, but let’s talk about how this worst case and precarious situation may have evolved.

The more a state is unable (or refuses) to take care of basic needs for those it has unilaterally claimed responsibility for – notice we’re not speaking of anyone who is seeking to be paid benefits from the state, if only for the sake of this one point – the less stable the balance of power is. And, the more precarious it is for everyone involved.

By not providing basic health and hygiene access for detained persons, the whole system is thrown out of balance. Being in prison is punishment, but inhumanely tortured persons present a vast spectrum of problems beyond themselves, both in the community on the inside and on the outside of the prison walls.

The more someone is denied proper healthcare – physical or psychological – or, the more they are denied basic personal needs…and, for menstruating women…this includes easy and consistent access to tampons and pads…the more likely detainees are: to bond together in rebellion against the system; to develop their own shadow ‘prison economies’; and, basically be pushed further out into the marginalized state which brought many down the path to becoming justice involved to begin with.

To conclude, let’s tie this up regarding the aforementioned example because it is (somehow) being debated in our national rhetoric right now…

That’s right. It’s 2019 – and, women are done pretending we don’t have periods. Our government should be, too.

Women who are incarcerated and don’t have access to basic hygiene are not only being abused – again, perhaps especially, through one lens, when their status of innocence or guilt has not yet even been tried in court – but the health of those around them is also being endangered by the potential spread of one of our most potent and potentially infectious body fluids, blood.

When you think about it like that it seems absurd that we’re even discussing whether this should be a thing. It’s already ‘a thing’; and, the only natural thing to do about it is exercise basic human decency that allows others to practice basic hygiene to the benefit of everyone.

It is ridiculously unclear why there is any opposition to this.

The post What Is a Prisoner, Really: How our Criminal Justice System is Failing Everyone – Especially Women appeared first on Reform Georgia.

91 percent of registered voters in the state are dissatisfied with the criminal justice system and 66 percent want major change.”

Pretrial Justice Institute

These changing attitudes have been a developing trend and the state government under Gov. Nathan Deal took some meaningful steps to address it and there remains much to be done. However, with this data being as of late 2018, it has been appalling to see an effort in the state legislature in 2019 to increase the use of pretrial detention regardless of offense. HB340 would require all local governments to use money bail and anyone charged would have to see a judge before being released to return on their court date, even for things where that would currently be how it’s handled usually.

This is the October 2018 press release from the Pretrial Justice Institute in its entirety:

For Immediate Release: October 31, 2018

Contact: Ben Schaefer, media contact for Pretrial Justice Institute, ben.schaefer@berlinrosen.com | 646-200-5284

Results Highlight Emerging Issues in Local and National Political Debates

WASHINGTON D.C. – Today the Pretrial Justice Institute released results of a statewide poll of voter attitudes toward Georgia’s pretrial justice system and money bail. The results show 91 percent of registered voters in the state are dissatisfied with the criminal justice system and 66 percent want major change. Among the key findings: Georgians want a pretrial justice system that honors the presumption of innocence by supporting people who can be successful in the community before trial, provides community-based services to those who need it, and reserves detention for the relatively few people who pose a threat to community safety.

“The criminal justice system is a maze—once you get in it’s hard to get out—and Georgia leaders are taking their place in the national conversation about money bail and pretrial injustice,” said Cherise Fanno Burdeen, chief executive officer of the Pretrial Justice Institute. “We hope these findings can contribute to the dialogue about creating a pretrial justice system in Georgia that is fairer and that also provides safer, more effective outcomes.”

The poll found, among other things, that most Georgia registered voters believe the wealthy get substantially better outcomes from the criminal justice system, with 84 percent of all respondents and 97 percent of African Americans in agreement. Majorities also agree that community-based pretrial supports are fairer than money bail, and they endorse providing community-based support, such as education and counseling, to improve pretrial outcomes and services for people with mental health and substance use issues.

Other key findings:

• 71 percent of Georgia voters would limit how long a person could be jailed before trial on non-serious offenses.
• Nearly eight in 10 Georgia voters want to reduce the number of arrests for low-level, nonviolent offenses by issuing citations rather than making arrests.
• 76 percent of Georgia voters think that public safety should be the determining factor in decisions about pretrial detention, compared to 10 percent who prioritize likelihood of appearing in court.

Georgia is among the nation’s leading states when it comes to putting people in jail. For every 100,000 Georgians, 585 are in jail—and 312 of those are in pretrial detention; the average national pretrial detention rate, by comparison, is 220 per 100,000. In 2017, Georgia was one of 17 states to receive a failing grade in PJI’s report, The State of Pretrial Justice in America.

Find a summary of the poll results here.

About the Poll

This poll was commissioned by the Pretrial Justice Institute and was designed and administered by Lake Research Partners. The survey was conducted by phone using professional interviewers and reached a total of 555 registered voters (weighted sample of N=538) in Georgia. The survey was conducted May 2–17, 2018. Telephone numbers for the survey were drawn from a file of registered voters. The sample was stratified geographically to reflect the expected composition of registered voters statewide. Data were weighted by gender, age, education, party identification, race, and region. The margin of error for the survey is +/- 4.2 percent.

About the Pretrial Justice Institute

The Pretrial Justice Institute (PJI) is a national organization working to advance safe, fair, and effective pretrial justice that honors and protects all people. “Pretrial” refers to the portion of the criminal justice system that extends from a person’s first contact with law enforcement until any resulting charges are resolved, through a trial, dismissal, or a plea. To learn more about PJI, visit www.pretrial.org.

www.pretrial.org/news/press-releases/

Follow us on Twitter (@pretrial) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/pretrial)

Thank you to the Pretrial Justice Institute for all the incredible work they do. Please follow them online and support their work if you can.

The post Statewide Poll on Bail Reform Shows Georgia Voters Ready to Improve Pretrial Justice appeared first on Reform Georgia.

It would undo the local bail reform that was passed in the City of Atlanta in March of 2018 and pre-empt any other communities from undertaking the same reform.

It was assigned to the House Judiciary Non-Civil Committee.

As of January 2019, 66% of people in Georgia city and county jails are awaiting trial under pretrial detention.

The result would be that everyone, regardless of offense, would be held in pretrial detention on a money bond and either have to pay out or be held in jail for one or more nights while waiting to see a judge.

Faced with the risk of sitting in jail and potentially losing their job or not being able to take care of their kids, many people even if they don’t have the money, will choose to use a bail bonding company that will cover the fee and allow them to get out immediately. The person then still owes that money to the bonding company, plus a premium and interest, because that’s how they make money.

Over 23,000 Georgians are held in local jails on any given day while waiting to see a judge, mostly for minor offenses.

The state has a high rate of pretrial detention, and most in pre trial detention are in city jails. Georgia’s local jails are at 3/4 capacity already. Will a policy that requires cash bail for almost all offenses increase pretrial detention numbers and strain jail capacity?

74% of the state’s total jail capacity is already full.

Will city and county governments be negatively financially impacted by having to house more people in jail while awaiting trial? Will holding more people on pretrial detention result in more job destabilization and higher rates of recidivism?

Our bail system impacts people of lower income at a disproportionate rate for obvious reasons – they cannot afford to bond out. An increase in the number of low income Georgians being held on pretrial detention would be likely under this bill. This bill would eliminate the judicial discretion which has previously proven to be biased against defendants of color when determining bail, although setting the bond price could still present an opportunity for discretionary bias.

You can find all the Jail Reports generated with state data by the Georgia Department of Community Affairs here.

House Judiciary Non-Civil Committee Members

Percentage of their County Jail Awaiting Trial & Capacity Rate

The data listed below comes from the January 2019 Jail Report from the Department of Community Affairs listing jail population data for all Georgia county jails. Remember that the majority (86%) of those held on pretrial detention in Georgia are held in city jails, so this data only tells part of the story.

• Efstration, Chuck, Chairman
  • Gwinnett County: 70% of the jail population is awaiting trial (1,475)
  • 70% capacity
• Reeves, Bert, Vice Chairman
  • Cobb County: 77% of the jail population is awaiting trial (1,450)
  • 98% capacity
• Gravley, Micah, Secretary
  • Douglas County: 82% of the jail population is awaiting trial (546)
  • 44% capacity
• Ballinger, Mandi L., Member
  • Cherokee County: 85% of the jail population is awaiting trial (424)
  • 97% capacity
• Boddie, William, Member
  • Fulton County: 75% of the jail population is awaiting trial (1897)
  • 94% capacity
• Cooper, Sharon, Member
  • Cobb County: 77% of the jail population is awaiting trial (1,450)
  • 98% capacity
• Dickerson, Pam, Member
  • Rockdale County: 83% of the jail population is awaiting trial (265)
  • 46% capacity
• Fleming, Barry, Member
  • Columbia County: 77% of the jail population is awaiting trial (250)
  • 122% capacity
• Kendrick, Dar’shun, Member
  • DeKalb County: 77% of the jail population is awaiting trial (1,281)
  • 46% capacity
• McLaurin, Josh, Member
  • Fulton County: 75% of the jail population is awaiting trial (1897)
    
  • 94% capacity
• Momtahan, Martin, Member
  • Paulding County: 80% of the jail population is awaiting trial (180)
  • 75% capacity
• Powell, Jay, Member
  • Mitchell County: 78% of the jail population is awaiting trial (42)
  • 47% capacity
• Sainz, Steven, Member
  • Camden County: 90% of the jail population is awaiting trial (120)
  • 123% capacity
• Setzler, Ed, Member
  • Cobb County: 77% of the jail population is awaiting trial (1,450)
    
  • 98% capacity
• Silcox, Deborah, Member
  • Fulton County: 75% of the jail population is awaiting trial (1897)
  • 94% capacity
• Trammell, Robert, Member
  • Meriwether County: 78% of the jail population is awaiting trial (59)
  • 72% capacity

The post House Bill 340: Mandatory Bail appeared first on Reform Georgia.

Georgia ranks 35th in the nation for the affordability of a 15 minute call.”

Many local city and county jails, along with Georgia’s state prison system, contract with private third-party companies that place equipment in the facility and manage communication services for incarcerated individuals. These companies generate revenue by charging high rates for basic phone calls, along with other surcharges that disproportionately impact the most vulnerable in our communities.

Kickback Agreements Create a Perverse Arrangement

Local governments establish contract agreements with these telecom providers that return part of those revenues, often more than 50%, to the government. This creates a model that favors high prices because they generate more revenue for both the vendor and the governmental agency, and that is a perverse relationship that should stop.

Hidden Fees Disproportionately Impact Low Income Families

The only way to communicate over the phone is to use that facility’s service provider, so family members must create an account and add funds to their balance in order to allow their loved ones to make a collect call. For low-income individuals without a bank account, they must use money transfer services like Western Union and MoneyGram. These transfer services have established referral agreements with these telecom service providers which results in extra fees on top of existing transfer fees.

These communication fees most severely impact low income individuals and families. Fees like these often fall entirely upon loved ones on the outside. These costs also affect individuals in pretrial detention who have yet to face any charges, effectively punishing someone while they are still presumed innocent.

State and local governmental entities should not be allowed to enter into revenue-sharing agreements with correctional facility service providers. While there are operational costs associated with providing access to phones, it should not be placed upon the shoulders of families who have done nothing wrong and are already suffering from the incarceration of a loved one.

State Provider, Rates, and Kickbacks

$7,807,260.54 in kickbacks were paid to the State of Georgia in 2017 through its contract with Securus.

That’s the 4th highest in the nation. The percentage of call costs going to kickbacks range from 58.5% – 62%. Interstate calls have a 0% kickback rate. This data was up to date as of November 2018 and comes from Prison Phone Justice.

The rates have actually gone down 48% over the last decade and went down to $2.40 in 2019 from $2.45 in 2018, but there is more to be done to make access to communication equitable and not just another way in which working families are punished the hardest.

Local Facility Providers and Call Rates

Below is a list of all the correctional facilities in Georgia, their telecom service provider, and their per minute call rate with the calculated cost of a 15-minute instate call. This information comes from the Prison Policy Initiative and was collected in 2018.

The post Georgia Ranks 35th for Jail Call Affordability appeared first on Reform Georgia.

Marsy’s Law Proves Hollow Amendment with Potential for Problems

Your ballot will have five ballot questions regarding amendments to the state constitution, as well as two referenda questions. These amendments require approval by a public vote and had to be approved by 2/3 of the legislature to be put on the ballot. However, the ballot questions are often worded in a way that makes them difficult to understand and doesn’t reveal the full story to the voter. On this year’s ballot there is one question that particularly relates to the criminal justice system so we wanted to address it.

Marsy’s Law is the name given to legislation that would amend the state constitution with the goal of ensuring victims’ rights are protected. That is how it’s described by those in favor anyway.

We believe that Marsy’s Law is not a good piece of legislation and will explain why.

First, here’s the text of the question as it will appear on your ballot:

Shall the Constitution of Georgia be amended so as to provide certain rights to victims against whom a crime has allegedly been perpetrated and allow victims to assert such rights?

Now, this sounds reasonable and positive at first read. The victims’ rights this refers to include things such as being notified if your attacker is going to be considered for probation or release. But there is more to consider.

Some of the confusion around the issue in Georgia is that Marsy’s Law is part of a nationwide campaign seeking to make changes to all state constitutions and each state’s version has proven different. Other states have had more problematic components that groups like the ACLU believed would infringe upon due process for those accused of a crime.

Iowa is one such example, and you may have seen this article from ACLU, “‘Victims’ Rights’ Proposals Like Marsy’s Law Undermine Due Process.” In Montana, they’ve already overturned their version because it was ruled to be unconstitutional.

Georgia’s version does not appear to be as threatening but is still unwise for several reasons.

1. Redundancy. Georgia has a strong Victims’ Bill of Rights under state law. It already provides all of the protections that are described in the text of Georgia’s proposed amendment. Instead of repeating ourselves, let’s first try to ensure the enforcement of the laws that exist.
2. Overly Difficult to Revise. Constitutional amendments require great effort by legislators and the public to change. If it turned out that this amendment resulted in discrimination or harmful unintended consequences down the line, or that it needed to be revised to be more effective, it will be overly difficult to revise. We consider it wiser to keep the law in the form of a state statute as it exists now where it is more easily revised by a legislative vote. However, if it were to be deemed unconstitutional in court, it would be repealed.
3. Outside Source Pushing Hollow Change. After the amendment was approved by legislature through lobbying efforts, the Marsy’s Law for Georgia committee was formed in April of 2018 and was given over 7 million dollars by the national organization to market this effort to the public. While we believe the intentions of this effort are most likely positive, the solution crafted for Georgia does not represent a meaningful improvement to current law. We do not believe a symbolic win for a national nonprofit is going to help victims in Georgia.

For more details, Ballotpedia has a great impartial analysis.

The post 2018 Ballot Question 4: Marsy’s Law – Good Intentions and Unintended Consequences appeared first on Reform Georgia.