Deal takes on education, job training for Georgia prisoners
Crime doesn’t pay, but it sure can cost
Speaking to the United Negro College Fund on Thursday, Gov. Nathan Deal said he wants a new criminal justice reform law signed last month to focus education and online job training for nonviolent inmates in the state’s prison system.
Deal called it a historic day for Georgia when he inked House Bill 1176 in early May, a law that will bring major changes to the way the state punishes non-violent offenders (and potentially save tax payers a couple hundred million over the next five years) when it kicks in on July 1.
And it’s a step in the right direction, according to a November 2011 report by the Special Council on Criminal Justice Reform for Georgians - a 13-person inter-branch panel set up to make recommendations for improving public safety and stemming increasing prison costs.