Pulse check: Criminal justice reform in Georgia lives

Georgia was the nation’s epicenter of criminal justice reform during the Gov. Nathan Deal era, and he left it in much better shape than he found it.

The Peach State had long had one of the most troubled justice systems, but Deal sought to reverse those trends. He championed a host of sentencing reforms, establishing accountability courts, expanding parole in lieu of prison time and tackled bail reform.

For justice reformers, it was an exciting time, but it couldn’t last in perpetuity. Deal was term-limited, and as he left office and many other lawmakers moved on, both Capitol insiders and outsiders were quick to call time of death on further substantive justice reforms. In light of this, I caught up with Rep. Tyler Paul Smith, R-Bremen, who chairs the committee that vets criminal justice bills, and he understandably takes some umbrage with claims about justice reform being dead.

“If people haven’t been paying attention,” Smith told me, “then they’ve missed it because [criminal justice reform is] alive and well.” He’s quick to rattle off some successes since he’s been in office, but just this year, there are several pieces of justice reform legislation on the move that deserve attention.

Among those, Smith pointed out House Bill 582, sponsored by Rep. Stan Gunter, R-Blairsville, which is also known as the Georgia Survivor Justice Act, and Smith reserves high praise for it: “I think chairman Gunter’s bill—among a few others—is probably one of the better pieces of legislation that we’ve seen come before us.”

If passed, the measure would allow the courts to consider a more complete set of evidence in cases involving defendants who have endured family, dating or child abuse. Put simply, if an abuse survivor retaliates against their tormentor or their abuser coerced them into engaging in illegal activity, then they can introduce evidence of this to reduce their sentence. It is not a get-out-of-jail-free card, but it aims to ensure the justice system doesn’t unfairly punish survivors.

This is just the tip of the iceberg this year. Sen. Brian Strickland, R-McDonough, filed Senate Bill 207, which is designed to help rehabilitated individuals with criminal records to more easily obtain occupational licenses to work. With roughly 40 percent of Georgians having a mark on their record, this is an important step forward. “Do you have a red flag that comes up in the background search? [If so], you’re going be relegated to minimum wage jobs,” Smith lamented.

While Smith chairs the committee considering criminal justice bills, he has also been sponsoring legislation to fix the justice system himself, including House Bill 535. It is a commonsense proposal that would permit the accused to count time spent in jail for probation revocation hearings toward their total sentence. This helps count time served more consistently across the justice system.

Meanwhile, Rep. Bill Werkheiser, R-Glennville, is pushing House Bill 123 to ensure that the state doesn’t execute intellectually disabled people who have been convicted of capital crimes. This would represent a notable policy shift, and these measures are more than just about rewriting code, they are lawmakers’ passion projects. Smith even admitted, “I shed a few tears when [House Bill 123] passed out of committee.”

These bills are meandering their way through the legislative process, and if passed, will transform the system. This demonstrates that criminal justice reform continues to take center stage in the General Assembly.

While people may have worried that losing Deal to term-limits represented the death knell for Georgia’s justice reform, that’s clearly not the case, despite facing some challenges. “A couple years ago, it seemed as if we were trying to put a pen on the balloon that was our criminal justice reform that Gov. Deal passed,” Smith disclosed. “But I think you see that we’re still passing reforms every session. To Gov. Kemp’s credit, he has signed these into law […] He’s been a good partner, and his office has been a good partner with us on criminal justice reform.”

For Smith, continuing to promote justice reforms is a particularly important duty in the Peach State. “Georgia was founded as a penal colony,” Smith said, “a place for second chances. Are we really achieving what the spirit of this state—even in its colonial stature—was supposed to be about? Deal understood that and there are some of us that understand that as well.”

While not everyone embraces criminal justice reform, Smith is happy to give them some advice: “You have to be careful to not let re-election scare you away from doing what’s right.” Smith openly admits that there is plenty of work left to do, but he stresses, “[Criminal justice reform is] still alive and well. That heartbeat is going pretty steadily.”