The rights of inmates at the Fulton County Jail are being violated, according to a Department of Justice report

ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) – The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) said Thursday that conditions at the infamous Fulton County Jail violate the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution, the Americans with Disabilities Act and education for persons with disabilities. Action.

“We cannot turn a blind eye to the inhumane, violent and dangerous conditions people are subjected to in the Fulton County Jail,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney General for Civil Rights Kristen Clarke.

The DOJ report stems from an investigation into the jail, which is funded and managed by Fulton County and the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office. The investigation included the main jail in Atlanta and three annexes: the Marietta Annex in Atlanta, the North Annex in Alpharetta and the South Annex in Union City.

“We find that the Fulton County Jail does not adequately protect incarcerated people from violence such as stabbings, sexual abuse or even murder,” Clarke said.

The Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution protects citizens from excessive bail, fines, and cruel and unusual punishment, while the Fourteenth Amendment prohibits states from denying equal protection of the law.

“Residential units are flooded due to broken toilets, cockroaches, rodents and vermin are in abundance. Standing water, exposed wiring and pests make living spaces unsafe. The prison does not provide enough food, leaving people severely malnourished,” said Clarke.

“Plagues that carry bacteria and disease are not only widespread in food preparation areas, but have also contaminated the bodies of people in prison, people like Lashawn Thompson,” said Ryan Buchanan, the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Georgia.

Fulton County now has 49 days to respond to the department’s findings and demonstrate efforts to address the circumstances; otherwise, the U.S. Department of Justice could file a lawsuit. However, the incoming Donald Trump’s administration in the White Houseincluding a new attorney general, could decide not to pursue the case.

“In 2023 alone, we identified 314 stabbings and more than a thousand assaults. This rate of violence exceeds what we have seen in other cities across the country. The Fulton County Jail had as many stabbings in one month as the Miami-Dade County Jail did all year, and that’s a facility with one and a half times more people,” Clarke said.

>> WATCH LIVE: Fulton County leaders discuss the DOJ’s findings that jail conditions violate inmates’ constitutional rights.

>> READ FULL REPORT:

In a joint statement, Sheriff Pat Labat and County Commission Chairman Robb Pitts said the county is still reviewing the DOJ report and that the jail and county have worked closely with the Department of Justice throughout the investigation. Justice.

“Everyone in Fulton County shares the goal of ensuring our jail is safe and humane, and we agree with the Department of Justice that the identified issues can be resolved,” the two said in the joint statement. “We believe our planned repairs and other programs will address the necessary improvements at the prison and are committed to continuing to work with the Department of Justice and the community to address the identified issues.”

The prison currently houses approximately 2,000 people and has exceeded 3,000 in recent years.

The report specifically mentioned the death of Lawshawn Thompsonwho died in 2022 while in prison. Thompson, 35, was found dead in his prison cell after serving three months in jail on a battery charge. He had been placed in the prison’s psychiatric ward due to psychological problems.

“The horrific death of Lashawn Thompson was symptomatic of a pattern of dangerous and inhumane conditions at the Fulton County Jail,” said U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland. “The Department of Justice report concluded that Fulton County and the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office allowed unsafe and unsanitary conditions at the jail.

“As a result, people incarcerated in the Fulton County Jail suffered harm from pests and malnutrition and were at significant risk of serious harm from violence by other inmates, including murders, stabbings and sexual abuse,” Garland said. “The unconstitutional and unlawful conditions at the Fulton County Jail have persisted for far too long, and we are committed to working with Fulton County and the Fulton County Sherriff’s Office to remedy them.”

“Today’s Department of Justice report confirms that the abuse at the Fulton County Jail has not only been heinous, but unconstitutional,” said U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff, who joined U.S. Senator Raphael Warnock and U.S. Rep. Nikema Williams previously urged the DOJ this year to strengthen its policy that tracks data on deaths in federal, state and local custody. “Every day that these conditions continue, there is a failure to uphold the human and constitutional rights of Georgians.”

Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens said Fulton County residents “deserve to be treated humanely at all times – including while in custody.”

“They also deserve the right to a fair and speedy trial. This report highlights its shortcomings. Fulton County and its sheriff must take swift and deliberate action on all DOJ recommendations to resolve this humanitarian crisis,” Dickens said.

Atlanta News first worked with Dayvion Blake’s family. The 23 year old prisoner was stabbed to death with an improvised weapon in 2023made from a single piece of the prison’s crumbling walls.

His stepmother Latoya Wright responded to the DOJ’s report on the Fulton County Jail.

“No one has confidence in the prison system anymore,” she said. “It has been shown time and time again that your loved ones go in and don’t come out.”

Wright said her stepson had been violently attacked three times in prison before the fatal stabbing.

“He was stabbed several times before the fatal situation occurred,” she said. “I don’t think the prison guards did what they had to do to separate him from whoever it was.”

Atlanta News First also spoke with Lashawn Thompson’s family and their Buckhead attorney on Thursday, hours after the report was released.

“The DOJ has completed their investigation and found what we knew all along,” said the family’s attorney, Michael Harper. “It’s just a terrible place for prisoners.”

“We can never get our brother back, but we’re trying to move on and we’re trying to keep his legacy alive,” said Thompson’s brother, Brad McRae. “Not only for our brother, but for other families to get answers and try to see what’s happening in this prison.”

Both Ossoff and Warnock are Georgia’s Democratic senators, while Williams represents Georgia’s 5th Congressional District, where Fulton Prison is located.

In September 2023, Ossoff also asked Garland to open a civil rights investigation into the Clayton County Jail.

By 2023, Atlanta News investigates first launched a multi-part, award-winning series entitled “Georgian Gitmo”, which investigated prison conditions. The investigation included interviews with Fulton County’s top political and legal officials who oversaw the jail: the Commission’s chairman Rob Pittspublic prosecutor Fani WillisSheriff Pat Labatand the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Ural Glanville.

If there’s something Atlanta News First Investigates would like to dig into, fill it in this submission form.

Copyright 2024 WANF. All rights reserved.