ATLANTA (AP) — The U.S. Justice Department announced Friday that it has entered into a court-enforceable agreement with Georgia’s most populous county after finding that violence and filthy conditions in county lockups violated the constitutional rights of people held in jail.
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.
“Our topline goal with this consent decree is to bring the Fulton County Jail within compliance with the U.S. Constitution and federal law,” U.S. Attorney Ryan Buchanan said in an interview Friday. He added that compliance would result in “increased safety for the folks who live in Fulton County or folks who are arrested and wind up in custody in the Fulton County Jail.”
In July 2023, the Justice Department opened a civil rights investigation into jail conditions in Fulton County, citing violence, filthy living quarters and the in-custody death of a man whose body was found covered in insects. That investigation found that jail officials failed to protect detainees 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 had 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 says.
“This consent order is a road map to a better future for our facility, staff, and the individuals entrusted to our care,” Sheriff Pat Labat said. “Together, these opportunities will build meaningful and long-lasting change.”
Under the proposed agreement with the county and sheriff, officials will develop plans and policies to keep detainees safe from violence, improve supervision and staffing, ensure doors and locks work and require staff to adhere to constitutional standards when using force. They will also take steps to protect detainees who are at risk of suicide and to give detainees adequate medical and mental health care. And they will develop a housekeeping and pest control plan to keep the jail clean and sanitary.
The jail 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 the jail, the consent decree says.
The proposed consent decree provides for an independent monitor, who is to be agreed upon by the parties, to be appointed for an initial period of two years to assess the jail’s implementation of its requirements and to provide a public report every six months. The agreement doesn’t include a timeline but says it will end once the county has achieved compliance with its conditions and maintained that compliance for a year.
If there are problems, the Justice Department can turn to the court for help enforcing the agreement. But Buchanan said that the county has shown a willingness so far to cooperate.
“As of right now, we’re proceeding in a way that’s positive, toward a positive goal, as opposed to avoiding a negative consequence,” he said. “We’re really hopeful that this momentum can continue and we can get the jail safe as quickly as possible.”
The county’s main jail has long been plagued by problems, and Labat, who was reelected in November, has been calling for the construction of an expensive new jail since taking office in January 2021. A lengthy report released in November that details the Justice Department findings said that although Labat and other county leaders were aware of the problems and have spoken publicly spoken about them, “they have failed to take adequate action to address the crisis.”
When the Justice Department announced its findings in November, Labat and county Board of Commissioners Chairman Robb Pitts said they had already been working to address structural and programming concerns at the jail.
In a statement released Friday, Pitts said the county will continue its work to improve the jail. He noted that the board had already committed to investing up to $300 million for improvements.
The report detailed a “crisis of violence,” including stabbings, sexual assaults and killings. It also said vulnerable populations, including people who are gay, transgender, young or who have serious mental illness, were particularly at risk from the violence, which causes physical injury and long-lasting trauma.
Jail officers do not receive adequate training and guidance on the use of of force and were found to engage in “a pattern or practice of using excessive force” against people in county custody, the report said.
Fulton County has a main jail and three annexes, and investigators found that the main jail is hazardous and unsanitary, citing flooding from broken toilets and sinks, infestations of cockroaches and rodents, and filthy cells with dangerous exposed wires. There isn’t enough food for detainees and the distribution services are unsanitary, exposing detainees to pest infestation, malnourishment and other harms, the report said.
People held in Fulton County custody receive inadequate medical and mental health care in violation of their constitutional rights, leaving them open to risk of injury, serious illness, pain and suffering, mental health decline and death, investigators found.
When the Justice Department launched its investigation, officials cited the September 2022 death of 35-year-old Lashawn Thompson in a bedbug-infested cell in the main jail’s psychiatric wing, noting that an independent autopsy conducted at his family’s request found that he died of severe neglect. Photos released by attorneys for Thompson’s family showed that his body was covered in insects and that his cell was filthy and full of garbage.
Michael Collins, senior director of racial justice organization Color of Change, has been vocal about the problems at the jail and critical of Labat. He said Friday that he applauds the Justice Department’s actions but that he’s hesitant to be too hopeful as long as the sheriff is involved.
“He’s definitely part of the problem,” Collins said of Labat. “I think what remains to be seen is how much can the Department of Justice implement the changes they want to implement, which we agree with, with the sheriff there.”
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