Governor Nathan Deal was the featured speaker at the opening session of the 10th anniversary of the Accountability Courts Conference being held this week at the Waverly Hotel in Cobb County. Deal was welcomed with a standing ovation from the room of over 700 specialty court judges, parole and probation officers and the Administrative Office of the Courts.
In his remarks Deal reminded his audience how far they had come in a short period of time. In his four years as Governor the budget for specialty courts has grown from less than $2 million to over $15 million in this 2014 budget. The Criminal Justice Reform bill was passed with no dissenting votes and the Juvenile Reform Bill passed with only two voting no. The third leg of the reform plan will be centered on transition, support and re-entry.
In a state that releases nearly seventeen hundred offenders from prison each month Deal said that he knew upon taking office where to make real change that would have an immediate and positive impact for the Georgia taxpayer and on the offenders and their families that had paid their debt to society. Deal also noted that the rate of incarceration of African-Americans was down nearly twenty percent under the new guidelines. Prior to taking over as Governor, Deal had been an attorney, a judge and a law-maker. His experience gave him a clear vision that he has since turned into a national leadership position. Other states have used the “Georgia model” as they have sought to reduce the cost of running a corrections division. Georgia spends a billion dollars a year to incarcerate and carry out the sentences of its criminals. Sadly the past performance of these “lock them up and throw away the key” dollars have not returned much on the taxpayers investment. Deal has been seeing positive results in both Adult and Juvenile incarceration and probation.
Clearly Governor Deal understands from his upbringing as the child of a teacher and the husband to a retired teacher that education is the pathway out of recidivism. The governor has implemented programs that allow offenders to work on and receive their GED or high school diploma while in prison and is exploring the possibility of a technical school diploma as well. The crowd of those tasked with working with offenders with drug problems, PTSD from being in the armed forces, and juvenile offenders interrupted the governor several times with applause showing their appreciation for his leadership in their chosen field. He was clearly among friends and admirers, even being introduced by his son Judge Jason Deal.
Governor Deal finished his remarks with the words “none of this is easy” and encouraged the hundreds present to “have courage in your convictions and don’t give up.” The crowd was appreciative of his remarks and Deal closed with “we are willing to listen to your ideas and Georgia is going to be number one in criminal justice reform.” The man beside me remarked “I think we already are.”
