The Department of Justice and Fulton County have reached an agreement on steps to improve conditions at the Georgia county's notorious Rice Street jail.
The DOJ said in a news release Friday that the parties agreed to a consent decree, which must be approved by a federal judge, that would resolve the agency's claims that the jail "engages in a pattern or practice of violating the rights of people incarcerated there."
The DOJ said in November that jail officials in Georgia's most populous county were violating the constitutional rights of people in their custody by failing to protect them from violence, using excessive force, and holding them in filthy and unsafe conditions.
The agency cited the death of a 35-year-old inmate in a bedbug-infested cell in the jail's psychiatric wing, noting an independent autopsy conducted at his family's request found that he died of severe neglect. Photos released by attorneys for Lashawn Thompson's family showed his body was covered in insects and that his cell was filthy and full of garbage.
"This proposed consent decree is a critical step toward correcting the dangerous and dehumanizing conditions that have persisted in the Fulton County Jail for far too long," Attorney General Merrick Garland said in the news release. "When the Department announced findings from our investigation of the Fulton County Jail in November, we called on the County and Sheriff's Office to remedy the troubling pattern of unsanitary living conditions, brutal physical attacks, and other dangerous issues at the Jail. We are encouraged that local officials have agreed to a plan that will begin to address the inhumane, unconstitutional conditions that were reflected in Lashawn Thompson's horrific death."
The Fulton County Sheriff's Office said in a news release steps it would take to improve jail conditions, including housing assignment changes; a new jail management system; upgraded technology; new staffing analysis to optimize deployment and to help hire and retain qualified employees; more use of technology to monitor contraband entering the facility and investigate inmate violence and criminal acts; an updated training program for staff; and new inmate orientation procedures and enacting the process to renovate the jail facility to handle structural integrity needs.
"This consent order is a roadmap to a better future for our facility, staff, and the individuals entrusted to our care," Fulton County Sheriff Patrick Labat said in the news release. "Together, these opportunities will build meaningful and long-lasting change."
The DOJ also offered its recommendations of steps the jail needs to take. They included developing plans and policies to keep inmates safe from violence; improve supervision and staffing; keeping doors and locks in working order; requiring that any use of force by staff comply with constitutional standards; protecting inmates at risk of suicide and giving inmates adequate medical and mental healthcare; and developing and implementing a comprehensive housekeeping plan and pest management system.
Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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