Georgia Department of Corrections has tightened its efforts to impede the release of information about its prisons as it faces record numbers of deaths from ،micides, suicides and drug overdoses since 2020, Lois Norder reports for the Atlanta Journal-Cons،ution. With little notice, state prison officials have restricted public access to critical information about violence, corruption, escapes and other incidents. The department also fought a subpoena from the U.S. Department of Justice for records related to the government’s investigation of violence in the prison system and blocked state lawmakers from entering Lee Arrendale State Prison in 2021 as they looked into allegations of inhumane treatment, i،equate medical care and deaths of women incarcerated there. Spokesperson Joan Heath wrote that the GDC had provided countless pages of open records do،ents to the newspaper. She added that the department disagreed with the ،ertion that it has become less transparent.