Cloverdell Legislative Office Building Room 307
ADVOCACY DAY
This advocacy day discusses the Divest-Invest model that has taken place. The Economics of Prison. Cost of Incarceration
The focus will be given to fines fees and the impact of long prison sentences, denying people opportunities to be successful.
We will speak to legislators about what can be done to improve these issues and change the law.
Cloverdell Legislative Office Building Room 307
CAP Room 216
Georgia has the highest number of people under correctional control than anywhere else in the world. Lengthy supervision sentences added on to already lengthy prison terms contribute to Georgia’s alarming correctional control population. Although recent legislation has made reforms to the state’s community supervision system, Georgia’s adult probation rate remains among the highest and lengthiest in the country. This advocacy day will help attendees better understand how these failed policies are impacting communities in Georgia and empower Georgia citizens to demand more effective alternatives to incarceration beyond probation and community supervision.
CAP Room 216
Cloverdell Legislative Office Building Room 307
There are over 400,000 people on probation in Georgia – the highest rate per capita in the country. A significant contributor to this problem is that every traffic offense in the state is a criminal misdemeanor, subject to a year in jail and a $1000 fine. While few are actually incarcerated, the criminalization of minor traffic offenses significantly impacts on the misdemeanor probation population. When someone cannot afford the legal financial obligations associated with the traffic offense, he or she is placed on criminal probation and strapped with even more fees. Also, across the country and in some Georgia cities and counties, lawmakers are recognizing the unnecessary costs associated with prosecuting marijuana possession and are reclassifying the offense as a civil infraction and/or reducing the penalties to avoid incarceration.
This advocacy day will help attendees understand the key differences between decriminalization and reclassification and discuss best practices for reducing the harsh impact of the criminal legal system on people who do not pose risks to public safety and improve communities impacted by incarceration.
Cloverdell Legislative Office Building Room 307
TBD
Unlike in most states, in Georgia, almost all convictions stay on a person’s criminal history forever. Criminal records create barriers to employment, housing, higher education, and other opportunities, long after the sentence is over. Research shows that allowing people to remove old convictions maintains public safety and benefits families and communities. Felony convictions are also hindering people in Georgia from being able to exercise their right to vote. In 2016, nearly a quarter-million Georgians were denied the right to vote because of a felony conviction, some only because of an outstanding financial obligation. Attendees will learn about the current efforts to expand expungement and voting rights for people with a criminal history and what they can do to influence lawmakers during the 2020 session.
TBD
CAP Room 230
In Georgia, 17-year-olds who commit crimes are prosecuted, tried, and sentenced in the adult system, regardless of their crime or their personal background. Georgia is one of only 4 states that still treat 17-year-olds as adults instead of as children. We invite folks to the Capitol to learn and talk to their legislators about why 17-year-olds deserve fair, developmentally-appropriate treatment and how Georgia can save money and promote public safety by Raising the Age. This advocacy day will also cover issues that impact children in the criminal legal system, such as the school-to-prison pipeline, school safety and shackling.
CAP Room 230
CAP Room 216
Georgia’s criminal legal system is full of cruel and unusual punishments, with practices that include executing people, giving children life sentences, prosecuting children as adults and confining people with serious mental illness to solitary confinement. This advocacy day will provide attendees with information about the current efforts to address these harsh practices and offer specific opportunities for people to advocate for reform to lawmakers. The day will also feature an interactive exhibit that will give attendees a brief glimpse into what it looks like to be confined in isolation.
CAP Room 216