We, the undersigned, formally petition President Donald J. Trump to exercise federal authority and oversight in response to systemic constitutional violations, civil rights abuses, and institutional collapse within the Georgia Department of Corrections (GDC) and the broader Georgia legal system.

A SYSTEM IN CRISIS

The Georgia Department of Corrections is no longer merely mismanaged — it is functionally failing.

Public records, investigative reporting, litigation history, and firsthand accounts demonstrate:

• Severe and chronic understaffing, rendering facilities unsafe, ungovernable, and incapable of meeting constitutional minimum standards
• Loss of effective control of correctional facilities, including unchecked violence, widespread contraband, and inmate-on-inmate assaults and deaths
• Preventable deaths in custody caused by denial of medical care, delayed emergency response, and failure to provide basic supervision
• Conditions that constitute cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Eighth Amendment
• Systematic obstruction of access to courts and counsel, violating the First, Sixth, and Fourteenth Amendments

These conditions are not accidental. They reflect deliberate indifference by state officials acting under color of law.

LEGAL SYSTEM FAILURES

Beyond GDC, Georgia’s legal system has enabled and normalized these abuses through:

• Defective indictments that fail to allege essential elements of charged offenses
• Routine denial of meaningful due process
• Judicial rubber-stamping of unlawful prosecutions
• Retaliation against incarcerated individuals who file grievances or pursue legal remedies

This represents a structural breakdown of constitutional safeguards, not isolated error or negligence.

FEDERAL INTERVENTION IS WARRANTED

Under established Supreme Court precedent, when a state:

• Cannot maintain constitutional conditions of confinement
• Exhibits deliberate indifference to serious medical and safety needs
• Fails to police its own officials

Federal intervention is justified and necessary.

Georgia has failed to correct these conditions despite years of litigation, warnings, consent discussions, and public outcry.

FORMAL DEMANDS

We therefore formally demand that President Trump:

1. Direct the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division to open a comprehensive investigation into the Georgia Department of Corrections pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1997a
2. Investigate systemic understaffing and operational collapse within Georgia prisons as violations of the Eighth Amendment
3. Examine deaths in custody for patterns of negligence, deliberate indifference, and civil rights violations
4. Review Georgia’s indictment and prosecutorial practices for constitutional defects and due process violations
5. Hold state officials accountable who knowingly permitted unconstitutional conditions and loss of institutional control
6. Protect whistleblowers, incarcerated individuals, and families from retaliation for reporting abuse or misconduct

THIS IS NOT A POLICY DISAGREEMENT — IT IS A CONSTITUTIONAL EMERGENCY

The Constitution does not stop at the prison gate.

When a state allows its correctional system to descend into chaos, violence, and death — and its courts to legitimize those conditions — federal oversight becomes a duty, not an option.

We call on President Trump to act decisively to restore constitutional order, protect human life, and uphold the rule of law in Georgia.

Signatures include incarcerated individuals, family members of the incarcerated, legal observers, and concerned citizens.

FINDINGS OF FACT

Based on publicly available records, litigation history, investigative reporting, and firsthand accounts, the undersigned find that:

1. The Georgia Department of Corrections is critically understaffed, resulting in the inability to provide adequate supervision, security, and emergency response within multiple facilities.
2. GDC has lost effective control of certain facilities, as evidenced by unchecked violence, widespread contraband, inmate-on-inmate assaults, and homicides occurring without timely staff intervention.
3. Deaths in custody have occurred under circumstances indicating preventable harm, including delayed medical treatment, failure to respond to medical emergencies, and prolonged exposure to dangerous conditions.
4. Medical and mental health care within GDC facilities routinely falls below constitutional minimum standards, constituting deliberate indifference to serious medical needs.
5. Incarcerated individuals face substantial barriers to accessing courts, including interference with legal mail, retaliation for filing grievances, and denial of meaningful access to counsel.
6. Georgia courts and prosecutors have permitted defective indictments and unlawful prosecutions to proceed, undermining due process protections guaranteed by the Constitution.
7. State oversight mechanisms have failed to correct these conditions, despite years of warnings, lawsuits, and documented harm.
8. These conditions collectively constitute cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Eighth Amendment and a denial of due process and equal protection under the Fourteenth Amendment.

Signatories attest that these findings reflect lived experience or direct knowledge.

Signer Guidance:

If you or your family have experienced understaffing, denial of medical care, unsafe conditions, loss of facility control, or deaths in Georgia prisons, you may briefly describe your experience in the comments. For safety, avoid naming individual officers unless already part of the public record.