Gov. Deal Signs Criminal Justice System Overhaul
- Public Safety Performance Project
- Source: onlineathens.com
- May 3, 2012
Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal signed legislation Wednesday that will overhaul the state's criminal justice system to provide alternative sentences for nonviolent offenders and reduce soaring prison costs.
Sentencing reform became an early priority of the new administration last year. Faced with budget pressures, Deal and other law-and-order Republican governors have pushed to overhaul years of policies that were designed to lock up more criminals and put them away for longer periods of time. In many cases, Republicans had pushed for the policies decades ago.
Deal added a human side to the discussion Wednesday, becoming emotional as he recounted witnessing first-hand the impact of alternative sentencing.
Read the full article at onlineathens.com.
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