GA: Greens Call on Governor to Act on Prison Reform, Oppose Mass Incarceration Policies

From the Green Party:

"I am so encouraged to hear Governor Deal acknowledge both the stark statistics and something of the devastation which mass incarceration wreaks on Georgia communities," said Denice Traina, past cochair of the Georgia Green Party, mother, grandmother and Augusta based physical therapist. "We're eager to hear today's State of the State, hoping that Governor Deal will use the occasion to propose policies that apply the principals of restorative justice, rather than our failed policies of punishment and social control. Rehabilitation, education and vocational opportunities can help us keep folks working and families together. All Georgians win with those policies!"

"Greens are eager to see how Governor Deal intends to translate his concern for the wasted lives, drained treasury and depleted workforce into public policy," said Al Herman, Treasurer of the Georgia Green Party, DeKalb County resident and board member for Georgia NORML, the Georgia chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijauna Laws, "Greens welcome the Governor's acknowledgement of the debilitating costs of mass incarceration, and would like an opportunity to help craft the policies which can reverse the tragic course set by his predecessors which have decimated communities across Georgia to feed our commitment to mass incarceration."

Ms. Traina and Mr. Herman are responding to incoming Governor Nathan Deal's remarks to the General Assembly on Monday, acknowledging that one in thirteen adult Georgians are under state control. He stated that "It costs about $3 million per day to operate our department of corrections. As a state, we cannot afford to have so many of our citizens waste their lives because of addictions. It is draining our state treasury and it is depleting our workforce."