Georgia State Prison
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Georgia State Prison is the main maximum security facility in the state of Georgia. Located on Hwy 147 just outside Reidsville, Georgia, "GSP" houses approximately 1550 inmates. The current warden is Don Jarriel.
"Georgia State Prison was the first prison in the United States to receive accreditation by the American Medical Association for its health care delivery services. The model of GSP’s Mental Health Program has been implemented in several federal facilities across the country. Georgia State Prison was also the first prison to receive accreditation by the American Correctional Association for meeting the requirements set forth by the American Correctional Association for Adult Correctional Facilities."[1]
At one time, the Georgia State Prison served as a death row prison. The skeletal remains of an electric chair can still be found in the museum on the upper floors of the main building, as well as prison documents containing names, authorizations, and last statements of the prisoners. In the 1940s and 1950's, volunteers were offered $25 dollars to flip the switches which would start the flow of electricity, and eventually lead to the death of the prisoner. Inmates would often be doused with saltwater to speed up their deaths, though it often took up to 10 minutes for them to reach their demise. Death Row Inmates are now housed at the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison (GD&CP) near Jackson, GA in Butts County.
Many renovations were made. The expanding crime rate has added a multitude of buildings that span from the original structure. It has all security levels (Trusty to Maximum including Hi-Maximum) inmates. This prison houses some of the most dangerous inmates in the State of Georgia. The prison has counseling programs aimed at reducing the recidivism rate that rival many in the country.
[edit] Trivia
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was transferred to the Dekalb County Jail in Decatur, Georgia, to Georgia State Prison in Reidsville, Georgia. He was released on October 27, 1960 on a $2,000 bond.[2]
Until recently, GSP housed radical activist H. Rap Brown, now known as Jamil Al-Amin. Al-Amin was the chairman of SNCC in the late 1960s. In 2007, he was transferred to a federal facility where he now resides.
The facility also housed Wayne Williams, a man who was convicted, and many believe wrongly framed, for the multiple child molestation cases that were prevalent in the 1960s and 1970s in the Atlanta area. He is now at Valdosta State Prison in Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia. This prison has also housed Iceman. At one time noted to be one of the most influential inmates in the penal system in the state of Georgia, successfully training many correctional officers in martial arts - Especially the CERT teams and Tactical Squads - Iceman was well respected for his ways while serving time at the GSP. GSP was at one time the sole prison for carrying out executions in the state of Georgia until it was moved to Jackson (GD&CP) in 1976.
Another not so well known fact is that the original movie "The Longest Yard" starring Burt Reynolds, was filmed at the prison. Much of the cast of the movie were inmates which made their captors (i.e. the State of Georgia) much monies and gratuities before such behavior was deemed illegal by the same government. The three sissies that starred as the cheerleaders for the inmates were actually three men ('queens') that were incarcerated at the prison at the time and all of which were " 'sissies' ". About half of the cast of the movie were violent inmates that were never expected to be released and that are either now at Dodge SP, Valdosta SP, or many others.
Georgia State Prison was featured satirically by Austin Powers in Goldmember, those who have ever worked or been incarcerated at GSP see the humor in the portrayal.
Until recently GSP was the premiere housing location for violent Georgia inmates. The Hi-Max Unit (L & M Buildings) has since been closed and is awaiting to be renovated. This is pending completion of the conversion of the old Tift College in Forsyth, Monroe County, Georgia. (April 19th, 2009 et seq).
Paul S. George, wrote a journal article, "The College Program in the Georgia State Prison," in the ERIC database, which described the "development and operation of the associate degree program conducted by South Georgia College at the Georgia State Prison, a large maximum security prison, and compares it with a similar program conducted by Tallahassee Community College at the Federal Correction Institution in Florida, a small minimum security prison."[3]
[edit] External links
