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  • DEATH PENALTY
    The Southern Center for Human Rights represents individuals on death row at trial, on appeal, and in the post-conviction review process.
  • RIGHT TO COUNSEL
    The legal system is so complex and contains so many procedural traps that a lay person accused of a crime can no more navigate it alone than a passenger can fly a plane in the absence of the pilot.
  • PUBLIC SAFETY
    Through the use of tough on crime rhetoric, politicians have brought about longer prison terms, siphoning off resources that could be better spent on programs and services that provide real solutions to crime.
  • PRISON AND JAILS
    The United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world, and within the United States, the top 7 states with the highest incarceration rates are all Southern states.
  • DEBTORS' PRISONS
    Contrary to what many people believe, there are debtors’ prisons throughout the United States where people are imprisoned because they are too poor to pay fines and fees.

The Southern Center for Human Rights

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RECENT NEWS

  • Georgia probation firm closing amid lawsuit, compliance check
    20th May 2015

    A South Georgia probation company accused in a lawsuit of wrongfully detaining poor people will be closing its operation next month.

    Red Hills Community Probation, which handles misdemeanor probation supervision for five small courts, informed state regulators that it will close in June, according to emails obtained Wednesday by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

    The company’s decision came as the County and Municipal Probation Advisory Council (CMPAC), which regulates probation providers, was in the midst of a compliance review of Red Hills.

  • Lives upended as judges push legal limits
    2nd May 2015
    Success of Georgia probation reforms depends on changes from the bench

    When Adel Edwards appeared before Judge Joshua Bell in a tiny municipal court in rural Georgia, it was hardly the crime of the century. Edwards was accused of burning leaves in his yard without a permit. But the judge didn’t treat the matter lightly. He ordered Edwards, who is disabled and lives on food stamps, to pay a $500 fine, spend 12 months on probation and pay a private probation company another $44 a month to “supervise” him.

  • Justice Department weighs in on public defender lawsuit
    14th March 2015

    The U.S. Justice Department on Friday stepped into ongoing litigation to express concern about legal representation for juveniles in a South Georgia judicial circuit.

    The agency’s civil rights division, in a 22-page court filing, told a Fulton County judge he should find the constitutional rights of juvenile defendants are being violated if necessary legal safeguards are not in place.

  • Georgia legislative proposals could gut public defender reforms
    1st March 2015

    Just 12 years ago, Georgia’s indigent defense system was a national embarrassment. Defendants languished in jails for months at a time without ever seeing a lawyer. At many courthouses, assembly-line justice was the norm, with lawyers meeting their clients just a few minutes before entering guilty pleas.

  • Georgia probation systems ensnares those too poor to pay traffic fines
    24th November 2014

    Vera Cheeks, of Bainbridge, received a $135 for rolling through a stop sign. Going on probation gave her time to pay, but money was so tight that she was unable to make an immediate payment of $50. Her fiancé resorted to pawning Cheeks’ engagement ring and a Weed Eater so she could leave the building. “It just broke my heart,” Cheeks said.

    Vera Cheeks was hoping for mercy when she appeared in court for rolling through a stop sign.

    What she got was probation: Georgia’s high-cost solution for people who can’t immediately pay a traffic fine.

© 2013 Southern Center for Human Rights