Justice Department enters consent decree with Fulton County over jail conditions

ATLANTA– The U.S. Department of Justice announced Friday that it has entered into a court-enforceable agreement with Georgia’s most populous county after finding that violence and squalid conditions in county lockups violate the constitutional rights of people in jail. , violated.

The Justice Department has filed a complaint and proposed consent decree in federal court, and the agreement must still be approved by a judge, the agency said in a news release. But if the plans outlined in the agreement are successfully implemented, they would resolve the problems found by department investigators, the release said.

The Ministry of Justice was opened in July 2023 a civil rights investigation to jail conditions in Fulton County, citing violence, filthy living quarters and the death in custody of a man whose body was found covered in insects. That research found that prison officials failed to protect prisoners from violence, used excessive force and held them in “unconstitutional and illegal conditions.”

The Fulton County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release that it anticipated the Justice Department’s filing and has been working with the department and the county attorney’s office. The agreement to enter into a consent decree came after “extensive negotiations,” the release said.

“This consent order is a roadmap to a better future for our facility, its staff and the individuals in our care,” said Sheriff Pat Labat. “Together, these opportunities will create meaningful and long-lasting change.”

Under the proposed agreement with the county and sheriff, officials will develop plans and policies to protect inmates from violence, improve supervision and staffing, ensure doors and locks work and require staff to adhere to constitutional standards when the use of violence. They will also take steps to protect inmates at risk of suicide and to provide inmates with adequate medical and mental health care. And they will develop a housekeeping and pest control plan to keep the prison clean and sanitary.

The prison will also stop using isolation for vulnerable people at risk of self-harm and will facilitate the provision of adequate special education services to children with disabilities held in prison, the consent decree said.

The proposed consent decree provides for an independent monitor to review the prison’s implementation of the requirements and issue a public report every six months.

The province’s main prison has long been plagued by problems, and Labat, who was re-elected in November, has been calling for the construction of an expensive new prison since taking office in January 2021. In November, a comprehensive report detailing the findings of the Justice Department said that while Labat and other district leaders were aware of the problems and have spoken publicly about them, “they have failed to take adequate action to address the crisis to tackle.”

When the Justice Department released its findings in November, Labat and Robb Pitts, chairman of the county Board of Commissioners, said they were already working to address structural and programming issues at the jail.

The report describes a “crisis of violence,” including stabbings, assaults and murders. Vulnerable populations, including people who are gay, transgender, young or with serious mental illness, are also said to be particularly at risk from the violence, which causes physical harm and long-term trauma.

Prison staff do not receive adequate training and guidance on the use of force and are found to be engaging in “a pattern or practice of using excessive force” against people in custody, the report said.

Fulton County has a main jail and three outbuildings, and investigators found the main jail to be dangerous and unsanitary, citing flooding from broken toilets and sinks, cockroach and rodent infestations, and filthy cells with dangerous exposed wires. There is not enough food for detainees and distribution services are unsanitary, exposing detainees to pests, malnutrition and other harm, the report said.

People held in custody in Fulton County are receiving inadequate medical and mental health care in violation of their constitutional rights, exposing them to the risk of injury, serious illness, pain and suffering, mental health decline, and death, so researchers discovered.

As the Justice Department launched its investigation, officials cited the September 2022 death of a 35-year-old Lashawn Thompson in a bed bug infested cell in the psychiatric wing of the main prison, noting that a independent autopsy conducted at the request of his family revealed that he died from severe neglect. Photos released by lawyers for Thompson’s family showed his body covered in insects and his cell filthy and full of garbage.

Included in the report were 11 pages of “minimal remedial measures” for prison officials to implement. It ended with a warning that federal authorities could take legal action if the concerns are not adequately addressed.

Last year, a Georgia state Senate committee was formed to investigate conditions at the Fulton County jail completed in August that county officials needed to do more to work together to address problems at the jail. It also called on the city of Atlanta to transfer the entire former jail to the county to house inmates.