Celebrating Service
2013 Public Service Award:
Governor Deal
By The Honorable Susan E. Edlein
State Court of Fulton County
G
overnor Nathan Deal is the recipient of the 2012-2013
Atlanta Bar Association Public Service award. Since
taking office, Governor Deal made reform of Georgia’s
criminal justice system a priority of his administration. He is
seen by many as the face of prison reform in Georgia.
Shortly after taking office, Governor Deal and the legislature
created a Special Council on Criminal Justice Reform to review
and recommend changes to overhaul the criminal justice
system. At the time, Georgia had one of the highest, if not the
highest, rate of people caught up in the criminal justice system
in the country, with 1 in 13 people in jail, on probation or parole.
1 in 3 was likely to reoffend within three years.
Commission which will conduct periodic comprehensive
reviews of the juvenile justice system and criminal justice
system to help ensure that they are effective and efficient in
fulfilling their purposes.
The Governor is still focused on what he refers to as the “third
leg” of criminal justice reform: supporting convicts’ ability
to become productive members of society after they leave
prison. The goal is to reduce the recidivism rate in easing
the transition after incarceration.
The 2012 legislation, HB 1176, instituted comprehensive
sentencing changes that are expected to save taxpayers
over two hundred million dollars in the first five years of
implementation. The legislation passed unanimously in
both chambers of the legislature. The reforms established
alternatives to incarceration for low-level non-violent drug and
property offenders, saving prison beds for the most d