No, I haven't made a mistake, Georgia's Republican Governor, Nathan Deal, is making strides in his attempts at Criminal Justice reform. It seems at least this Republican can show a little empathy every now and then.
According a New Republic article by Naomi Shaven, the story goes, at least as told by Deal; after Deal won his Governorship in 2010, he met a man named Sean Walker who worked at the Governor Mansion as part of living in a Transitional Center mandated by his parole in 2005. During Mr. Walker's time working for Goodwill as a Banquet sales coordinator, he was nominated Goodwill's International Employee of the Year. He intends to take college courses to one day become a Counselor.
New Republic-
Deal, who got to know Walker at the governor’s mansion, shared the story to underscore his own “message to those in our prison system and to their families: If you pay your dues to society, if you take advantage of the opportunities to better yourself, if you discipline yourself so that you can regain your freedom and live by the rules of society, you will be given the chance to reclaim your life.” He continued, “I intend for Georgia to continue leading the nation with meaningful justice reform.”
Whether the story as told is true or not matters little. What matters is that, right now, Governor Deal is leading the nation in Criminal Justice Reforms. From sentencing reforms to Felon employment and even Juvenile detention reforms, Governor Deal has made changes that are nothing short of amazing among Red states.
Since Governor Deal took office in 2011, he has made changes to Mandatory-Minimum-Sentences, giving more discretion to judges to hand out lighter sentences or to mandate treatment programs that help avoid prison or jail time. Meanwhile for those who cannot avoid prison, Georgia now offers classes to earn a high-school diploma rather than a GED like most states.
Once an inmate is released, various services are now offered to help prevent them from re-offending. Georgia has also "Banned the Box" on job applications, smoothing the way to gaining employment with more ease, one of the main drivers of recidivism is unemployment.
But some of Governor Deal's best work has been among juvenile offenders. New programs offer alternatives, such as drug courts and treatment programs as an alternative to detention, reducing Juvenile detention by an astounding 14%. Recidivism has also responded accordingly.
When Governor Deal took office, the state of Georgia was spending $20 Million annually on charges stemming from housing Prison inmates in County Jails. This was mainly due to a backlog of prisoners being sent to prison from county jails where they await trial or sentencing. On top of which, the state was expecting the prison population to grow by another 8% over the next 5 years. Since then, Georgia has lowered its prison population by more than 3,000. And as for the backlog of inmates waiting it out in county jails? That vast sum of $20 million has dropped down to a paltry $40,720 annually.
Between 1991 and 2011, Georgia's Prison population doubled. Since Nathan Deal took up residence in the Governor's mansion, not only has he stemmed the tide, he has begun to reverse it. He says he has more work to do, but if the last five years mean anything, it reminds Governors across the country of the old adage, States truly are a laboratory for Democracy and reforms are still possible even as our Federal Government is deadlocked beyond hope.
Georgia has brought a little bit of hope home to those of us who've made mistakes in our lives. Though many of us have gotten away with making those mistakes (we were young we say to ourselves), but some people have to live with the consequences of those actions for the rest of their lives. Everyone deserves a second chance, Nathaniel Deal is giving Georgian's that very opportunity.