Citizens For Justice With Mercy

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This law is being presented during this next legislative session. Citizens for Justice with Mercy is perusing several Senators and Legislators to actually propose it in the session. This is the proposed bill as we have written it. This is the way to change the law.
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED THE
The Prison Oversight Act
This bill seeks to enact a Part III to Article 4 in Chapter 12 of Title 15 of the Georgia Code to create a standing Grand Jury that contains members with appointed terms, whose function will be to oversee the Georgia Department of Corrections and County Jails. This type of oversight is presently lacking so that the GDC answers to no one outside of the executive branch who does not have enough money to challenge them in court. The result has been such problems as large numbers of inmate deaths, high incidence of violence and incidences of neglect so that the US Department of Justice has felt compelled to begin a civil rights investigation into Georgia prisons. The Legislature feels that this should not be done by the federal government because it should be a State function. Still, given the level of dysfunction now seen at the GDC this oversight is vitally necessary.
WHEREAS there is a crisis in the Georgia Department of Corrections that has prompted a civil rights investigation;
WHEREAS the Georgia Department of Corrections has used its power to deny representatives of the Legislature access to the prisons and their records;
WHEREAS there is not currently any neutral authority with the power and authority to investigate the Georgia Department of Corrections in an ongoing basis;
WHEREAS the Georgia Department of Corrections is responsible for some 53,000 Georgia citizens and controls a budget of over a billion dollars a year;
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
Section 1.
This Bill shall create Part 3: Prison Oversight Grand Jury to become part of Article 4-Grand Juries, Chapter 12-Juries, Title 15-Courts. The following shall be appended thereto:
Ga Code § 15-12-120 - Short title
(a) Part 3 shall be known as the Prison Oversight Act.
Section 2.
Ga Code § 15-12-121 - Scope of the Act
(a) This Act shall regulate the Judicial Oversight of the Georgia Department of Corrections and the various County Jails.
(b) Nothing in this act shall be construed to abrogate the grand juries created by Ga Code § 15-12-7.
(c) Juries created by Ga Code § 15-12-7 shall share information gained with juries created by this Act.
Section 3.
Ga. Code § 15-12-122 - Formation of a Standing Grand Jury
(a) This Act constitutes a standing Penal Grand Jury, hereinafter “Jury,” consisting of 9 members appointed by the Governor and consented to by the Senate, each serving terms of 4 years.
(b) The Jury shall be comprised of three medical personnel (at least one of which will be a mental health professional), three previously incarcerated individuals, and three Senior Judges from the Magistrate, State, or Superior, or Appellate Courts.
(c) They shall meet either virtually or in person at least once a month to investigate and discuss issues that have been reported to them or have come to their notice about the operations of the Georgia Department of Corrections as created in Chapter 4 of Title 42 or the Ga Code or other jail facilities as defined by Chapter 4 of Title 42 of the Ga. Code.
(d) The Jury shall be tasked with reviewing inmate grievances, reports from the general public, or reports from any other source of prison and jail conditions, medical treatment corruption, inmate abuse and mistreatment.
(e) The Jury shall have full investigatory power including subpoena power in their access to prisons and jail including but not limited to their records, their inmates, their employees, and their contractors without notice in the official course of their duties.
(f) The constraints of documents being State secrets shall not prevent them from being able to subpoena and consider the documents so labeled.
(g) The Jury shall maintain the integrity of the State secret documents while investigating and after the investigation unless or until the Commissioner or a Superior Court Judge unseals the documents.
(h) The Jury may convene and with Notice hold hearings and compel the attendance of witnesses who will testify under oath.
(i) The Jury shall have contempt power to enforce its orders.
(j) The Jury shall have the power to indict for crimes that it discovers in the course of the scope of its investigations.
1. To indict the Jury must have at least 5 members voting to indict and at least one of the Senior Judges must be agree with the indictment.
2. Any indictment passed by the Jury shall be returned in the Superior Court of the County in which venue lies.
3. The District Attorney of that County shall take up the indictment and pursue prosecution.
(k) The Jury may bring a civil action on behalf of an aggrieved inmate, that inmate’s family, or a class of inmates against the Georgia Department of Corrections to effect justice in treatment or recovery of damages.
(l) Once a year, near the end of the calendar year the Jury shall prepare a report concerning the conditions of the jails and prisons together with their recommendations to make those conditions more just and equitable.
(m) A Member of the Jury shall be available to present this recommendation to the Senate Oversight Committee and to testify before that committee.
Section 4.
Ga Code § 15-12-123 - Provision for staff and operating budget
(a) In the yearly budget there shall be a provision for full-time staff members and office expenses.
(b) The Jury shall have at minimum three office staffers, two investigators, and funds for legal representation.
(c) If the Jury brings a civil action and prevails, they shall receive, in addition to any relief that was sought, reasonable attorney fees.
(d) Also, the Jury shall be authorized to request assistance from the Georgia Bureau of Investigations when investigating a possible crime.
Section 5.
Ga Code § 15-12-124 – Qualifications for Jury Members
(a) Jury members must be residents of Georgia and a minimum of 25 years of age.
(b) Three of the Jurors must hold state medical licenses of some kind at least one of them must be a licensed mental health professional.
(c) Three of the Jurors must be Senior Judges from either Magistrate, State, Superior or Appellate judgeships who remain in good standing with the Bar and Judicial Qualifications Committee.
(d) The three previously incarcerated individuals must have been released from prison at least three years prior to their appointment and must have lived a life free of crime and without serious incident during that period.
(e) Each previously incarcerated individual must have at least 3 recommendations from persons without criminal records.
(f) Each prospective Juror must be nominated by a fellow Georgia Citizen to the Governor of the State except for the Senior Judges who may volunteer on their own nomination.
(g) The Governor will choose those who he/she feels will be fair, honest, and diligent in the search for truth.
(h) The Senate Oversight Committee will give prompt attention to any nominee presented by the Governor and after recommending them to the Senate floor the full Senate shall give them a speedy up or down vote.
Section 6.
Ga. Code § 15-12-125 – Effective Date
(a) This Act shall be effective immediately upon signing by the Governor.

Clayton County Sheriff Victor Hill facing civil rights abuse charges Clayton County Sheriff Victor Hill, who calls himself “The Crime Fighter,” was indicted on federal charges Tuesday for allegedly violating the civil rights of jail detainees.