MY INTERVIEW WITH GOVERNOR NATHAN DEAL

A
few days ago, I had the opportunity to interview Georgia’s governor.  As you might guess, I was most interested in
the criminal justice reforms that he and his administration have spearheaded
since he took office. 

I
was under the impression that Governor Deal got the idea about criminal justice
reform from our sister state of Texas. 
While Texas does have some similar criminal justice reforms, Deal actually
became committed to the idea of justice reform and reinvestment on the campaign
trail for Governor. “After hearing from a multitude of legislators, citizens
and even probationers and parolees, I realized that Georgia citizens were not
getting a good return on their taxpayer dollars when it came to adult
corrections and juvenile justice. A prison bed costs over $18,000 per year; the
entire budget for the Department of Corrections is over $1 billion. Yet the
recidivism rate among adult offenders is about 35%. A bed in a secure facility
operated by the Department of Juvenile Justice costs $90,000 per year, but the
recidivism rate hovers around 50%. That’s not good fiscal policy nor is that
good public safety policy. Our communities and the state as a whole deserved
better.”

Governor
Deal went on to say, “In 2012, I partnered with the Pew Center on the States to
provide technical assistance to the Special Council on Criminal Justice Reform.
Pew came to the table with enormous expertise on these issues because of work
they had done in other states. The Special Council on Criminal Justice Reform,
co-chaired by Judge Mike Boggs of the Georgia Court of Appeals and Thomas
Worthy, my Deputy Executive Counsel, included stakeholders that represented all
viewpoints and provided a great deal of expertise in their own right. The
Council carefully vetted a multitude of ideas, best practices and other
suggestions. Some recommendations ultimately made by the Council, which
subsequently became law, were similar to those already done by Texas and Ohio.
But every recommendation was shaped and tweaked to serve the unique needs of
Georgia.”

I
was also interested in Deal’s opinion on the value of drug and mental health
courts since I have clients enrolled in both and because his son, Judge Jason
Deal presides over the drug court in Hall County.  I also believe that drug courts save lives
and money.

Deal
wholeheartedly agreed with me that drug courts save lives and taxpayer money. He
said” I have seen it with my own eyes through closely following and watching
Jason’s efforts (Judge Jason Deal) in his own court. I’ve spoken at many of his
drug court graduations. A systematic and sustainable statewide accountability
court system is vital. As a result, my FY2013 and FY2014 budgets both contained
approximately $11 million available to create or grow accountability courts
around the state. My goal is to have accountability courts available in every
judicial district of the state.”

According
to Governor Deal, these reforms are indeed saving our state money as well.  “The data analyses and projections show that
that the 2012 reforms (HB 1176) will save the state $264 million over five
years. The 2013 reforms (HB 242 and HB 349) are estimated to save the state $85
million over five years. Some of these savings will continue to be reinvested
into communities to provide services to the appropriate low-risk nonviolent
offenders with the hope that we are giving them the tools to be productive,
law-abiding, tax-paying members of society.”

At
the end of our interview, Governor Deal wanted to make clear his general
beliefs about the interaction of government and the criminal justice
system.  Governor Deal said, “I believe
in the conservative values of small government. To that end, the most basic and
solemn obligations of your state government is to protect its citizens and
educate its children. These reforms sit at the crossroads of those two
obligations. A “lock ‘em all up and throw away the key” mentality is not making
our state safer nor can we afford it. These reforms are good first steps and we
will continue to be looking at these topics as long as I am Governor. By
identifying the low-risk nonviolent offenders who can be steered away from a
life of crime by providing the appropriate services, we can ensure that our
finite supply of expensive prison resources is used for those offenders that
society can no longer tolerate.”

As
a citizen, voter, and father of two boys, I must say that I could not agree
more.