An investigation from the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the Department of Justice found that poor conditions at the Fulton County Jail violate incarcerated persons’ constitutional and statutory rights and have led to injury and death.
U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia Ryan K. Buchanan announced the investigation’s findings on Nov. 14, determining that Fulton County and the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office failed to adequately protect incarcerated persons from substantial risk of serious harm.
Buchanan described a “disturbing frequency of deaths” among persons at the jail.
“In Fulton County, people in custody awaiting formal charges or trials frequently must protect themselves from brutal physical attacks, endure frequent excessive force, manage their wellbeing with inadequate food and unsanitary living conditions, and hope they can find access to a strained medical and mental health care program. This is unacceptable,” Buchanan said in a news release. “Our Constitution requires humane conditions while incarcerated that, at a minimum, ensure people in custody are safe.”
Fulton County Sheriff Pat Labat and County Commission Chairman Rob Pitts said in a joint press conference late Thursday afternoon that the county started working on issues pointed out in the DOJ’s report long before its release.
“I’ve said all along that we will have to comply with whatever the Justice Department recommends, and that’s what we’re in the process of doing now,” Pitts said.
Labat said they were committed to continuing to work with the Bureau of Justice Assistance Program and the National Institute of Corrections on the remedial efforts. He said the report pointed out that the issues it detailed were fixable opportunities.
“We share the concerns that were outlined, and we’re going to be working jointly, cooperatively, to address them, Pitts said.
U.S. Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said the death of Lashawn Thompson, who was found dead and covered in bedbugs in the jail’s psychiatric wing in September of 2022, was symptomatic of a pattern of dangerous and dehumanizing conditions at the jail. The investigation found that people incarcerated at the jail suffer harm from pest infestation and malnourishment. They also are at risk of serious harm by other incarcerated people, including homicides, stabbings, and sexual abuse.
Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division said the federal agency can’t turn a blind eye to inhumane, violent, and hazardous conditions inside the jail.
“Detention in the Fulton County Jail has amounted to a death sentence for dozens of people who have been murdered or who died as a result of the atrocious conditions inside the facility,” Clarke said in the release. “It’s not just adults but also children who are subjected to conditions and treatment that violate the Constitution and defy federal law.”
Buchanan, Garland, and Clarke said that they hope their findings prompt Fulton County officials to work with the Justice Department to implement necessary reforms.
The county already began reforms, Labat said. One change was an outsourcing plan made with the Board of Commissioners to relieve jail overcrowding. They formed an inmate advocacy unit to work with the Public Defender’s office and judges, leading to the release of nearly 1,400 nonviolent offenders on consent decrees.
Labat said the Sheriff’s Office has gained accreditation with the National Commission on Correctional Health Care since the report’s timeframe, answering another problem.
Pitts said the county’s Jail Blitz plan has made progress in fixing issues in 9 of the jail’s 11 housing units. Those repairs and renovations should be completed by the end of the year. The board of commissioners also approved spending up to $300 million to address the jail’s needs
Labat said they will have to recognize they will work with the existing facility.
“You have to understand that facility was built to warehouse people, and the first thing we have to do is change the culture of how we get people processed through courts, etc.,” Labat said.
A $300 million renovation is a huge step forward, though sometime in the future a replacement facility will be needed.
To address violent inmates being housed with more vulnerable inmates, Labat said throwing staffing at the problem would not be possible. The Sheriff’s Office will use technology to improve its classification system for those incarcerated in the jail to make sure they are housed separately.
The ACLU of Georgia released a statement following today’s report that said the DOJ confirmed Fulton County’s overburdened criminal justice system puts incarcerated people’s lives at risk and fails to improve public safety.
“There are better alternatives to detaining people for non-violent offenses,” Andrea Young, executive director, ACLU of Georgia. “We hope this report, calling out the unconstitutional conditions at Fulton County Jail, will finally push officials to use practical solutions such as speedy bond hearings, setting feasible bond amounts, and releasing people held for misdemeanor charges.”
The ACLU of Georgia said it offered solutions to Fulton County Jail overcrowding in these reports:
Breaking the Cycle: Exploring Alternatives to a New Jail, 2023
There are Better Solutions: An Analysis of Fulton County’s Jail Population Data, 2022
The 97-page report details findings from the comprehensive investigation of the Fulton County Jail, which Fulton County and the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office fund and operate. The investigation included the Main Jail, also known as “Rice Street,” in Atlanta and three annex facilities: the Marietta Annex in Atlanta, the North Annex in Alpharetta, and the South Annex in Union City. The Fulton County Jail currently houses around 2,000 people and in recent years the population has surpassed 3,000 people.
Report highlights
- Fulton County and the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office fail to protect people from the substantial risk of serious harm from violence by other incarcerated people, including homicides, stabbings, and sexual abuse.
- Officers use excessive force against incarcerated people.
- The jail houses incarcerated people in constitutionally inadequate living conditions that are unsanitary and dangerous.
- The jail fails to provide adequate medical and mental health services.
- The jail’s restrictive housing practices expose people, including 17-year-old children, to substantial harm, discriminate against people with mental health disabilities, and fail to provide incarcerated people due process of law.
- The jail fails to provide special education services to 17-year-old boys and girls who are entitled to those services while they are incarcerated at the facility.
The report said unlawful and dangerous practices found at the jail have contributed to multiple deaths and other serious harm. According to the report, from 2022 to the present, six incarcerated people have died in violence at the jail. In 2023, more than 300 stabbings occurred in the jail, involving contraband and makeshift weapons. Four deaths from suicide happened at the jail in the past four years, including as recently as April of this year.
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