Business as usual ground to a halt December 9 at nine prisons across the state of Georgia. In what is being called the largest prison strike in American history, tens of thousands of prisoners internally organized a nonviolent protest, announcing to the state's Department of Corrections (DOC) that they would neither work nor leave their cells until their requests were heard. They weren't asking for bubble baths or afternoon tea; they were asking for basic human rights: access to education, nutrition, healthcare and compensation for their labor, among other things.
Recognizing the prisoners needed more allies, the ACLU of Georgia and coalition partners quickly stepped up to advocate for the prisoners. The ACLU and its partners met with DOC officials December 17 and sent teams into the prisons to investigate first-hand the reasons for the strike. The team's tour of Macon State Prison on December 20 affirmed what we already knew was needed — statewide strategic solutions to combat the epidemic of mass incarceration of American men, women and children.
As we lock up more and more people at a time when governments' budgets are shrinking, states are cutting corners when it comes to conditions inside prisons, leaving those who are locked up with no choice but to react in defense of their basic human rights. In the aftermath of the strike, the ACLU will advocate for comprehensive reform to criminal justice policies in Georgia, including a close examination of the policies that created the conditions that led to the strike. After recent reports that several prisoners were severely beaten in prisons where strikes took place, the ACLU and our partners are also investigating whether these beatings were punishments inflicted on striking prisoners by corrections officers.
Georgia is one of the largest incarcerators in the country, with one in 13 Georgians under correctional control. Unfortunately, while Georgia's situation is extreme, it is not unique. The United States incarcerates more people than any other country in the world, at a higher rate than anywhere else in the world (yes, even China). There are approximately 1.6 million people in prisons in this country. These numbers are not a reflection of a rise in crime or population growth, but rather the result of more and more state and federal policies that incarcerate more people and keep them locked up longer. Corrections costs now account for one of every 15 state general fund discretionary dollars, and corrections spending is the second fastest-growing category of state budgets. Georgia is projected to spend $1.1 billion on corrections cost in the year 2011 alone.
Statistics like these make it impossible to ignore that the incarceration crisis is busting state budgets, and the Georgia prisoner strike illuminates the human cost just as clearly. It might seem easy to forget about the millions of people behind bars in our country, but the prisoners in Georgia have reminded us that this isn't a viable option. Nationwide, 77 percent of state prisoners are eventually released — does it really make sense to subject these individuals to inhumane treatment while incarcerated, leading them to become a greater threat to public safety upon their release than when they were incarcerated initially? Many of these individuals spend years in prison for minor offenses such as possessing minute quantities of marijuana, stealing $500 or driving without a license. Why not give these prisoners access to educational programs in order to prepare them for re-entry into society, thereby decreasing the chances that they offend in the future?
Recognizing that our country's incarceration levels have reached epidemic proportions and devastated communities of color, the ACLU has made the fight against mass incarceration a top organizational priority. The national ACLU and its offices in states around the country have been actively engaged in criminal justice reform for many years, but for the first time, with our Initiative to Combat Mass Incarceration, the ACLU is working to strategically coordinate this work to chip away at unjust and ineffective policies that have led to the U.S. becoming the largest jailor in the world.
Our nation's current criminal justice system is grounded in fear, racism and the irrational notion that locking people up is the only way to increase public safety. The ACLU advocates for a system that increases public safety by treating prisoners humanely, seeking proven and cost-effective solutions to incarceration and actually rehabilitating prisoners so they are equipped to re-enter society at the end of their sentences.
In a few weeks, we will be launching our campaign's new Web page to keep you informed of our efforts to advocate for smarter criminal justice policy in Georgia and other states. There are few greater threats to civil liberties than a criminal justice system that today deprives more Americans of their liberty than ever before — unfairly and unnecessarily, with no benefit to public safety — because of our addiction to incarceration.
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News & CommentaryDec 2024
Civil Liberties
We Need to Know More About State Supreme Court CasesWe Need to Know More About State Supreme Court Cases
State Supreme Courts interpret laws that impact some of the most intimate parts of our lives. Communities have a right to know what’s on the docket. -
Press ReleaseDec 2024
Civil Liberties
New ACLU Report Reveals Most State Supreme Courts Fail to Meet Key Transparency MeasuresNew ACLU Report Reveals Most State Supreme Courts Fail to Meet Key Transparency Measures
NEW YORK — Nearly half of all state supreme courts across the country fail to regularly post new cases they are considering, with only six meeting four key transparency measures already implemented by the U.S. Supreme Court, according to a new report published today by the American Civil Liberties Union. The report identifies significant steps that state supreme courts should take to inform the public about their cases, which have only grown in importance as the federal judiciary has become more hostile to protecting core rights and advocates have turned to state protections and state court litigation in response. Based on an analysis of the practices and policies of the highest courts in each state, including D.C., the report “Scorecard for State Supreme Court Transparency: How Does Your State Stack Up?” ranks each state supreme court in five tiers based on compliance with four key transparency measures. These measures include posting new cases online in a timely manner, providing timely information about legal issues presented by cases, making dockets accessible and free for the public, and making merits briefing accessible and free for the public. “State courts regularly hear — and are the final word on — cases affecting abortion rights, voting rights, criminal justice reform, and more. Yet, in many instances, the highest state courts do not provide meaningful public access to information about cases affecting the rights and liberties of millions of people. We urge state supreme courts to bring more transparency to the critical work they do,” said Julie Murray, co-director of the ACLU’s State Supreme Court Initiative. “In the face of a federal judiciary increasingly unwilling to protect core rights and an incoming administration that threatens to exacerbate that problem, state courts are an important defense for our liberty. They should be leaders in transparency, too,” said Bridget Lavender, Skadden Fellow with the Initiative. The report emphasizes that state courts “play an outsized role” in many parts of the law, but their ability to “guard our liberties depends in significant part on whether those courts adopt transparent processes.” It further highlights that state supreme courts have led the way on enormously consequential decisions in recent years. In particular, some state supreme courts have recognized the right of same sex couples to marry, and did so long before federal courts. They have also declared the death penalty unconstitutional under state law despite contrary federal law, protected access to reproductive health care as a right even as that right was being stripped away at the federal level, and provided more robust protection to people subject to unreasonable searches and seizures. The report urges state supreme courts to take action to improve their transparency practices, taking notes from the courts that have already implemented these measures. It notes that regularly posting new cases and the issues they represent, and providing timely access to dockets and merits briefing allows the public, the press, and the legal community to track cases as they unfold, identify cases with statewide consequences, and understand what’s at stake. -
Press ReleaseNov 2024
National Security
+2 Issues
ACLU Urges House to Kill Bill that Could Give Trump Admin Power to Crush Dissent and Go After Political EnemiesACLU Urges House to Kill Bill that Could Give Trump Admin Power to Crush Dissent and Go After Political Enemies
WASHINGTON — The American Civil Liberties Union strongly urges the House of Representatives to vote NO on H.R. 9495, the Stop Terror-Financing and Tax Penalties on American Hostages Act, which would grant Donald Trump and his handpicked secretary of the Treasury power to investigate and effectively shut down any tax-exempt organization — including news outlets, universities, and civil society groups — by stripping them of tax-exempt status based on an unilateral accusation of wrongdoing. “Passing this bill would hand the incoming Trump administration a dangerous new tool it could use to stifle free speech, target political opponents, and punish disfavored groups,” said Kia Hamadanchy, senior policy counsel at ACLU. “The freedom to dissent without fear of government retribution is a vital part of any well-functioning democracy, which is why Congress must block H.R. 9495 before it’s too late.” While there is a 90-day “cure” period in which a designated nonprofit can mount a defense, it is a mere illusion of due process. The government may deny organizations its reasons and evidence against them, leaving the nonprofit unable to rebut allegations. This means that a nonprofit could be left entirely in the dark about what conduct the government believes qualifies as "support," making it virtually impossible to clear its name. Last month, the ACLU and a diverse array of over 130 other tax-exempt organizations — including human rights, reproductive health, and immigrants’ rights groups — wrote to Congress urging them to vote no. The letter also explains that the groups do not oppose the provisions in H.R. 9495 that relate to preventing the IRS from imposing fines and penalties on hostages while they are held abroad. Indeed, these provisions have already passed the Senate on their own, and if the House of Representatives were to pass a version of this bill that did not include the text of H.R. 6408, it could be sent immediately to President Biden for his signature. -
News & CommentaryNov 2024
Civil Liberties
Donald Trump Will Return to the White House in January. The ACLU is Ready.Donald Trump Will Return to the White House in January. The ACLU is Ready.
Starting in 2016, the ACLU filed more than 400 legal actions against Trump and his administration. As Trump returns to the White House, we’re ready to return to the courts and Congress to fight for our civil liberties.