Over the last few weeks, The Prison Project has been speaking with the people behind Georgia Prisoners’ Speak and their platform at GPS.press.
To be honest, we were impressed.
A lot of people talk about prison reform. A lot of people post statistics online. But GPS appears to be trying to build something much larger. Their work combines investigative journalism, public education, policy research, grassroots organizing, and legislative reform into one connected effort.
Their website documents prison deaths, wrongful convictions, failures in Georgia’s post-conviction system, and the lack of accountability inside the system itself. But more importantly, they are trying to move beyond simply exposing problems. They are building public pressure and legislative proposals aimed at changing them.
One thing especially stood out to us.
In the Georgia Supreme Court case Sanders v. State, Chief Justice Nels Peterson wrote that Georgia’s current post-conviction system is one “no rational person would have chosen.” That statement matters. It means concerns about Georgia’s justice system are no longer coming only from advocates and families. They are being acknowledged at the highest levels of the judiciary itself.
GPS has built an entire campaign around that reality.
At The Prison Project, we come from a different angle. Our focus has always been on the human side of the system. Families trying to survive. Prison conditions. Grievances. Medical neglect. Wrongful convictions. People struggling to navigate a system they barely understand while trying not to lose hope.
That is why this collaboration makes sense.
GPS brings large-scale policy research, campaign structure, and investigative work. The Prison Project brings human stories, public education, and direct connection to the people living through these issues every day.
Neither approach works well alone.
Statistics matter. But so do faces and voices.
Policy matters. But so do real people.
Georgia’s prison and post-conviction crisis will not be solved through outrage alone. It will take organization, public pressure, education, documentation, and people willing to work together even when they come from different backgrounds and different approaches.
This is only the beginning of our conversations with Georgia Prisoners’ Speak, but we believe their work deserves attention.
We encourage people to visit GPS.press, explore their research, and follow the work they are doing across Georgia.
Because behind every statistic is a human being.
And behind every broken system is a decision that can be changed.
PrisonProject.net × GPS.press
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