Key Findings
- The Black-White imprisonment disparity in Georgia prisons fell 40%, from 5-to-1 to 3-to-1, during the period from 2000 to 2019. The largest disparity reduction occurred in imprisonment for drug offenses, with the rate for Black adults declining by 70% while the rate for White adults increased by 90%.
- Changes in prison admissions were the primary drivers of the disparity reduction, while changes in length of stay also contributed. The overall admissions rates fell by 44% for Black adults and rose by 28% for White adults during the study period.
- Statutory changes to sentencing appeared to have had less effect on disparity. Analysis indicates that two statutes—one that adjusted Life Without the Possibility of Parole (LWOP) sentencing guidelines for murder offenses and another that adjusted classifications and penalties for property crimes and drug offenses—had statistically detectable but small effects.
Research by the Council on Criminal Justice Pushing Toward Parity project shows that the gap between Black and White state imprisonment rates nationwide has narrowed significantly since the start of the 21st century. To better understand the trends and identify policies and practices that may drive them, the Council chose 12 states for closer investigation.
This brief on Georgia outlines the key state disparity trends, summarizes the potential influences on them, and statistically assesses the impact of those influences on the trends.
Notes
Although this brief acknowledges trends and factors from the pre-study period of 2000 to 2009, the scope of the analyses is limited to circumstances present in the state between 2010 and 2019. This brief also acknowledges potential disparity trend factors that implicate variables beyond the scope of this brief. For more details on methodology, framing considerations, and limitations, see the supplemental methodology report.
Click here for an overview of Georgia's resident and prison population demographics.
GLOSSARY
- Disparity ratios are a measure that compares imprisonment rates across two groups of people. A Black-White imprisonment disparity ratio of 3-to-1, for example, means that Black adults are incarcerated at three times the rate of White adults. A ratio of one indicates no difference between the two groups, or “parity.” A disparity ratio lower than one means that Black adults are less likely to experience imprisonment than White adults.
- New court commitments refer to prison admissions that result from a conviction for a new crime rather than for violations of community supervision.
- Rates are calculated per 100,000 respective adults. For example, the Black imprisonment rate is calculated per 100,000 Black adults. All rates refer to adult state prison populations; those in federal prisons and local jails are excluded.
- Parity refers to a disparity ratio of 1 (1-to-1).
Racial Disparities in Georgia
Between 2000 and 2019, the overall Black-White imprisonment rate disparity1 in Georgia fell by 40%, from 5-to-1 to 3-to-1. This decrease was led by an 85% drop in the drug offense disparity ratio (Figure 1). Since 2015, the drop in disparity was caused by a decrease in the Black imprisonment rate and an increase in the White imprisonment rate; prior to that time, disparity fell primarily because of a drop in the Black rate.
Figure 1: Black and White Imprisonment Rate Disparity Ratios by Major Offense Category, 2000–2020
Between 2000 and 2019, the Black imprisonment rate in Georgia fell by 30%, while the White rate increased by 18% (Figure 2). The drop in the Black rate was largest for drug offenses (down 70%), while the White drug rate increased by 90%. These diverging patterns led to the decline in disparity in drug offenses displayed in Figure 1. Property crime rates fell for both Black people and White people, but by a larger percentage change for Black people. Finally, the smallest decrease in the Black rate occurred for violent offenses; that decline was 11%, compared to an 11% increase in the White rate.
Figure 2: Black and White Imprisonment Rates by Major Offense Category, 2000–2020
Because of these differential growth rates, the race-specific composition of the prison population changed. The share of the Black incarcerated population serving prison terms for violent offenses rose from 56% to 71% while the shares of incarcerated Black people in prison for property and drug offenses fell; for example, the share of the Black incarcerated population sentenced for drug offenses fell from 17% to 7% (Figure 3). For the White incarcerated population, the share of those held for violent offenses fell slightly (from 57% to 53%) while the share serving time for drug crimes increased from 10% to 16%.
Figure 3: Shares of Incarcerated Population by Race, 2000 and 2019
Disparity in Prison Admissions and Length of Stay
Between 2000 and 2019, a decrease in admissions growth accounted for more of the change in Black and White imprisonment rates than did a change in expected length of stay. For Black people, the overall admission rate (per population) decreased by 44%, 1.7 times faster (in absolute value) than the increase in expected length of stay (26% increase) (Figure 4). The largest difference in growth rates in admission rates and length of stay for Black people occurred for drug offenses, where the 73% decrease in drug admission rate was seven times larger (in absolute value) than the 11% increase in expected length of stay. For White people, the largest absolute gaps (or mathematical differences) in admissions vs. expected length of stay growth rates occurred with drug offenses, followed closely by violent crime. The White drug admission rate increased by 64% while length of stay increased by 16%. White violent crime admissions increased by 31% even as expected length of stay for White violent crime fell by 15%. Comparatively, White and Black admission rates for violent crime and drug offenses diverged; for both offense categories, the Black rate fell while the White rate increased.
Figure 4: Change in Admission Rates and Length of Stay by Race and Offense Category, 2000–2019
Potential Disparity Trend Factors
The overall prison population in Georgia grew steadily throughout the study period. Significant reforms took place in 2012 with HB 1176, which resulted from the state’s first Justice Reinvestment Initiative engagement. This engagement created momentum for continued legislative reforms in Georgia in 2013, 2016, and 2018. Many stakeholders said these changes to policy and practice could have had a collateral effect on disparities.
Political Context
Republicans have held the governor’s office and majorities in both chambers of Georgia’s state legislature since 2003. Prior to 2003, Democrats held both gubernatorial and legislative control since the end of the Civil War.
Practice Reforms
According to Georgia Department of Community Supervision officials, the availability of data on probation and parole populations significantly improved in the last quarter of the study period. The newly available data allowed the Georgia Department of Community Supervision to begin tracking supervision outcomes to identify challenges and opportunities for improvement, including inequities in managing people on supervision that resulted in racial disparities. Officials said that greater tracking and awareness, made possible by the system’s commitment to data collection, had led to changes in practices and fairer outcomes. Current Governor Brian Kemp’s focus on violent crime led to the creation of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Gang Task Force. The task force includes representatives of the bureau, law enforcement, the district attorney’s office, and the governor’s office. Stakeholders said that Governor Kemp has kept his promise to focus on gang violence and has continuously reassessed and advanced how the task force responds to gang-related crime across the state.
Additional Contextual Factors
Much of Georgia’s criminal justice reform effort has been driven by the executive office of the governor. Stakeholders reported that gubernatorial initiatives drove the focus of legislative reforms and policy changes during each of Governor Nathan Deal’s terms. In 2011, Deal signed HB 265, a resolution that created the Special Council on Criminal Justice Reform for Georgians (Special Council).2 The Special Council examined state correctional policies and practices, working with stakeholders from law enforcement, advocates, the courts, and other key interest groups. Technical assistance was provided through the Justice Reinvestment Initiative of the Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Assistance and The Pew Charitable Trusts. In 2012, the Georgia Legislature unanimously passed a second bill, HB 1176, which enacted policies reducing the severity of penalties for low-level property and drug crimes and prioritizing prison beds for violent, career offenders. Georgia also expanded drug and mental health courts, strengthening diversion opportunities for individuals charged with nonviolent offenses. Stakeholders identified expansion of such accountability courts as a significant turning point in the Georgia reform effort. In 2012, Governor Deal established a monetary stipend to encourage judicial participation in specialty court sessions. As a result, from 2012 to 2020, the number of specialty courts increased from 74 to 171 statewide,3 with services in every circuit. In 2016, a new division of accountability courts was created; OUI (Operating Under the Influence) courts further expanded the scope of diversion and harm-reduction efforts in the state. In 2015, Georgia created the Department of Community Supervision following the passage of HB 310, which established and set provisions for the department along with the Governor’s Office of Transition, Support, and Reentry. Previously, multiple state entities were handling different parts of the process (corrections and parole). Under HB 310, parole and probation supervision responsibilities were merged, which led to more consistent assessment practices and more continuous supervision, usually by the same officer throughout. Stakeholders said these changes led to fewer revocations and returns to prison. In 2017, changes made as part of SB 174 required the Council on Accountability to provide community supervision technical assistance to accountability courts. Stakeholders said caseload sizes decreased for supervising agents, but reported an increase in cases involving people eligible for early termination due to meeting their Behavioral Incentive Date. The loss of discretion that resulted from these requirements, according to stakeholders, led to attempts by court officials to circumvent the new early termination policy.
Statutory Reforms
Between 2010 and 2020, Georgia passed or implemented 17 bills that related to changes in criminal sentencing. These bills were reviewed for inclusion in this analysis based on targeted populations, scope, and content, a process that excluded four from further analyses.4 A review of the 13 candidate bills produced six themes that characterized sentencing reform in Georgia during the study period. Based solely on the frequency of the themes, sentencing reforms in Georgia were dominated by measures that focused on:
- increasing or decreasing sentencing severity (nine laws)
Less prevalent were reforms that focused on:
- creating new offense categories (three laws)
- expanding or restricting the discretion of criminal justice agency actors (three laws)
- good time or early release (three laws)
- treatment programming (three laws)
- repeat offenders (one law)
Six of the 13 bills focused on specific offense classes, while seven broadly applied to justice-involved groups (e.g., probationers and parolees). Some statutory provisions were related to multiple types of offending. For example, HB 1176 created a new felony theft category and changed the minimum punishment for marijuana possession or intent to distribute/sell. Of those that focused on specific offenses, four targeted violent offenses, two were directed at human/sex crimes, one targeted theft and property offenses, and one bill focused on drug offenses. Many of the provisions of the 13 candidate bills were beyond the scope of the study data. Because of this, the following analysis only addresses subsets of reforms whose elements could be measured:
- HB 575 (July 2010), a bill that made kidnapping a separate charge that could not be merged with other offenses; this could lead to an increase in the number of kidnapping charges.
- HB 1176 (July 2012), which was an omnibus bill that modified penalties primarily for property and drug offenses (along with other provisions). Relevant provisions included:
- Raising the thresholds for felony theft.
- Adjusting penalties for 2nd-degree burglary.
- Reducing minimum penalties for marijuana possession or intent to distribute, and reducing minimum penalties for Georgia’s Schedule II drug possession or intent to distribute.
- SB 13 (April 2010), a bill that authorized a change that allowed people convicted of murder to be sentenced to Life Without the Possibility of Parole (LWOP) rather than life.
Analysis
Table 1 summarizes the findings of Black-White differences in preexisting trends and patterns, shifts in preexisting levels associated with the implementation of reforms, and post-reform trends. Analyses are detailed in the supplemental methodology report.5 All estimates in Table 1 are differences between the Black and White regression parameters (the degree to which a line slopes upward or downward). A positive post-reform trend difference indicates that the population outcome grew faster for Black people than for White people; if that difference is negative, that means a population outcome either grew more slowly or declined more rapidly for Black people than White people.
Table 1: Summary of Statistical Analysis of Racial Differences in Effects of Georgia Reforms
Two statutes were associated with statistically significant Black-White differences in post-reform trends, SB 13 and HB 1176.
SB 13
For the murder offenses, the difference was positive, which indicated a larger increase in the use of LWOP for Black people than White people following the reform; in the two drug offenses, the Black-White differences were negative, and indicated faster post-reform declines for Black people than White people. The LWOP for murder results are displayed in Figure 5. The shaded areas represent the confidence intervals related to the trends. The SB 13 reform was associated with equalizing trends in the use of LWOPs for Black people and White people. Pre-SB 13, about 4.5 White people per month were admitted for murder; after the law change, roughly the same number per month were admitted. For Black people, about 15 per month were admitted pre-SB 13; post-SB 13, this increased to about 18 per month. The effect occurred through a narrowing of the gap in imposition of LWOPs and did so by increasing the trend in use of LWOPs for Black people more than for White people. Pre-SB 13, the use of LWOP for White people convicted of murder was trending upward, and about 8% of these offenders received an LWOP. Post-reform, the White trend did not change from its pre-reform level, but there was a shift upward from the pre-reform average level. For Black people convicted of murder, the pre-reform trend was flat, whereas post-reform, the trend mirrored that for White people. Both the Black and White results account for any prior felonies committed by people convicted of murder who were admitted into Georgia state prisons.
Figure 5: Probability of Life without Parole Sentencing, by Race
HB 1176
The two marijuana offenses—sales vs. possession and possession with intent to distribute (PWID)—had the effect of lowering the number of Black people convicted of drug offenses admitted into prison following the reforms, while not affecting the trend in White drug admissions. For both marijuana sales and marijuana possession/PWID, pre-reform trends in Black admissions were positive and steeper than for White admissions (Figure 6). For example, pre-reform (2002 to 2012), monthly new court commitments for Black people for marijuana possession/PWID increased from about 20 to about 40. Following HB 1176, the monthly number of Black new court commitments for marijuana possession/PWID fell linearly from 40 per month to roughly 20 per month in five years. Monthly pre- and post-reform levels of marijuana possession/PWID admissions for White people were less than half of those for Black people, did not change with the reform, and, by the end of 2017 (five years post-reform), remained at slightly more than half the monthly number for Black people. The shift in the number of Black marijuana possession/PWID admissions does not appear to be related to the number of Black marijuana arrests in Georgia. Despite limitations, the Uniform Crime Report arrest data show the level of Black marijuana possession/PWID arrests did not trend upward or downward before or after the implementation of HB 1176. Consequently, shifts in arrests of Black people for marijuana possession/PWID cannot explain the decrease in prison admissions of Black people arrested for marijuana possession/PWID.
Figure 6: Admissions for Marijuana Possession or PWID, by Race
The HB 1176 reforms reduced maximum sentences for marijuana possession/PWID. The reforms had no impact on racial differences in the maximum sentences imposed, but were associated with a reduction in the number of Black people admitted for marijuana possession/PWID. Exactly how a reform that focused on sentence length influenced admissions is something that could not be determined with the available data. On the other hand, the decrease in Black marijuana possession/PWID admissions accounts for about one-fifth of the change in all Black drug offense admissions following HB 1176, or from 2012 through 2019. Marijuana sales admissions (the other significant difference in Table 1) accounted for about one-tenth of the overall decrease in Black drug offense admissions. Why HB 1176 affected admissions but not sentence lengths is puzzling, particularly because the reforms lowered minimum sentences for marijuana and Schedule I and II drug possession but did not have any mechanisms that addressed admissions. However, stakeholders suggest that HB 1176’s reduction of the minimum sentence length and a resulting increased focus on diversion and accountability courts might have discouraged the imposition of prison sentences for marijuana possession post-reform.
Discussion
Most of the provisions of Georgia law analyzed here resulted in racially neutral effects, meaning that there were no statistically significant racial differences in post-reform trends in any analyzed outcome. The story was different, however, for three provisions. One of these, SB 13, was associated with a larger increase in punishment severity for Black people convicted of murder than for their White counterparts, which had the effect of equalizing the probability of LWOP outcomes for Black and White people. Two other provisions of HB 1176, relating to marijuana sales and marijuana possession/PWID, were also associated with racial differences in outcomes, specifically related to prison admissions that could not be explained by arrests. Black, but not White, admissions for marijuana sales and marijuana possession/PWID fell following the reforms.
Georgia, like any state, has a distinct political and demographic history that influences the discussion of what does or does not work when addressing disparity in the criminal justice system. This state brief is one of 12 in the Pushing Toward Parity project, all of which seek to identify, what, if any, policy changes are associated with shifts in racial disparity and can serve as examples for states pursuing equity in their criminal justice system.
