The U.S. Justice Department has entered into a court-enforceable agreement with Georgia’s most populous county after finding that violence and filthy conditions in Fulton County lockups violated the constitutional rights of prisoners. DOJ filed a proposed consent decree in federal court, where it must be approved by a judge. U.S. Attorney Ryan Buchanan said 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,” reports the Associated Press. DOJ opened a civil rights investigation into jail conditions in July 2023, citing violence, filthy living quarters and the in-custody death of a man whose body was found covered in insects. The inquiry found that jail officials failed to protect detainees from violence, used excessive force and held them in “unconstitutional and illegal conditions.”
“This consent order is a road map to a better future for our facility, staff, and the individuals entrusted to our care,” said Sheriff Pat Labat said. “Together, these opportunities will build meaningful and long-lasting change.”
Under the agreement, officials will develop 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 take steps to protect detainees who are at risk of suicide and to give them adequate medical and mental health care. Officials will develop a housekeeping and pest control plan to keep the jail clean and sanitary. The jail will stop using isolation for vulnerable people at risk of self harm and will provide special education services to children with disabilities held in the jail. The county’s main jail has long been plagued by problems. Labat, who was reelected in November, has been calling for the construction of an expensive new jail since taking office in 2021. A report released in November on the Justice Department findings said that although Labat and other county leaders were aware of problems and have spoken publicly about them, “they have failed to take adequate action to address the crisis.”