The DPG will always strive to uphold and protect the United States Constitution and the Georgia Constitution and to defend everyone’s right to equal and impartial justice under the law regardless of economic status and/or other social indicators. We the people have the right to Life and Liberty, and protecting these rights is one of the main responsibilities of state and local governments.

The government must protect the rights of all and the integrity of the democratic process; furthermore, the government has the responsibility to safeguard all people from discrimination and harassment. To this end, Georgia Democrats will craft laws to benefit the common good without unduly restricting individual liberty. We recognize that there are areas of personal privacy and freedom into which government intrusion should be limited including, but not limited to, personal decisions about one’s health, religious beliefs, personal relationships, and family life.

Democrats are dedicated to protecting and preserving equitable justice. We reject mass incarceration.   We must combat the disparate impacts of racial and socioeconomic discrimination.  We support creating a Georgia where everyone can thrive and all are equal before the Law.  We embrace policies that are evidence-based and trauma-informed which support public safety, harm reduction, rehabilitation, recovery, and re-entry. 

Criminal Justice

Criminal justice reform incorporates every aspect of the criminal justice system. Reform is needed to ensure fairness in how the state makes charging, bail, diversion, sentencing and rehabilitation decisions, guides the actions of law enforcement officers, monitors the treatment of those incarcerated, and reintegrates formerly incarcerated individuals into society.

Georgia Democrats support: 

• Impartial and efficient operation of our court system necessary for the administration of justice to ensure fair and equal treatment for all. Investigating all cases of suspected judicial discrimination.

• Funding our court system to ensure everyone has equitable access to qualified legal representation. Ensuring public defender caseloads do not negatively impact defendant representation. Eliminating pretrial detention and cash bail for misdemeanor and nonviolent offenses. Improving the regulations surrounding incarcerated labor to prevent exploitation including, but is not limited to, the creation of a mandatory minimum wage for incarcerated labor and the preservation of prison labor rights.

• Hate crime legislation to increase criminal penalties for acts of violence or intimidation committed because of a victim’s age, race, color, ancestry, ethnicity, familial status, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, pregnancy, gender, disability, veteran status, genetic information, and all other protected or marginalized groups.

• Prohibiting the private operation and/or management of prisons and detention centers and reducing for-profit probation services. Eliminating the costs of telecommunications for detained and incarcerated individuals from for-profit, private companies.

• Reforming record restriction laws and removing the question of criminal history on initial employment and housing applications to increase program participation and expand employment opportunities.  Restoring voting rights to formerly incarcerated individuals who completed their sentences.

• Legalizing marijuana and extending clemency to those who have been formerly convicted of nonviolent marijuana offenses. Building an effective system of drug courts, veterans courts, accountability courts, and other diversionary programs that allow for needs-based applications to create opportunities for rehabilitation as opposed to incarceration.
• Unrestricted access by female inmates in all correctional facilities to feminine hygiene products.  Unrestricted access to medications for all inmates for any medical needs. 

Law Enforcement 

Georgia Democrats support:

• Creating community-building opportunities with local law enforcement through investments in community policing initiatives and the establishment of community-level review boards. Expanding funding for co-responder units and other crisis response teams staffed with social workers, peer specialists, and medical and mental health professionals. Requiring mandatory training of public safety personnel to enhance interactions with people with mental, physical, and social disabilities.
• Creating a state-specific database to track all officer-involved shootings. Issuing guidelines for the appropriate use of force by Georgia law enforcement officers. Implementing measures to combat discriminatory practices and police brutality.  Appointing independent special prosecutors to investigate all cases involving accusations of police brutality. Requiring the mandatory use of body cameras by all law enforcement officers. 
• Restricting the use of solitary confinement practices in all federal, state, and local correctional facilities.
• Decriminalizing homelessness by eliminating laws that criminalize unhoused individuals.
• Promoting legislation to protect victims of online harassment and cyberbullying.

Social Justice 

• We support the self-determination of indigenous peoples who call Georgia their traditional home.
• We recognize the rights of the Gullah-Geechee people to maintain their community.
• Reforming the civil asset forfeiture system to protect personal property rights and to remove unjust financial incentives for law enforcement to generate revenue for local police departments and governments.

• Increasing funding and infrastructure investments towards economic and mental health policies that address poverty and economic inequality as a root cause of crime.  Creating and funding community youth programs to reduce local violence and gang involvement.

• Establishing regional rehabilitative programs that are accessible and affordable to all concerning transportation and economic ability.
• Counting incarcerated persons as residents of their last location of free residence rather than residents of their present location of incarceration for purposes of redistricting at all levels of government. Providing government-issued ID to allow unsheltered or unhoused people, immigrants, and other persons to provide documentation to law enforcement and access to government services.

Excerpt taken from the Democratic Party of Georgia’s Platform, adopted in May of 2024.
–Muscogee Democratic Committee