In a civil rights investigation launched after the death of a 35-year-old man found to have suffered extreme neglect at Atlanta's Fulton County Jail, the Department of Justice found widespread violation of rights by failing to protect prisoners from violence and subjecting them to filthy conditions, malnourishment, and a lack of adequate medical care, NBC News reports. The report said killings, stabbing and assaults are common. From 2022 to the present, six incarcerated people have died in violent attacks, the report said. Over 300 stabbings involving contraband and makeshift weapons were also reported last year. Four deaths by suicide have also been reported in the past four years, one of them as recently as April, according to the report. The report found that the jail failed to protect detainees from the risk of harm from violence and sexual violence. Assaults are carried out in the jail using makeshift weapons, and the jail has inadequate practices for reporting and responding to sexual violence, it said.
The investigation was opened after the death of Lashawn Thompson, 35, in September 2022, which sparked public outrage. His body was found malnourished in a bedbug-infested cell in the psychiatric wing, and a private autopsy found he was neglected to death. The 105-page report details the serious conditions at the jail —described as long-standing, filthy and dangerous — as well as remedial measures Fulton County officials should implement. In announcing Thursday's report, Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a news release: “Lashawn Thompson’s horrific death was symptomatic of a pattern of dangerous and dehumanizing conditions in the Fulton County Jail. 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 Sheriff’s Office to remedy them,” he added. The Justice Department said the attorney general can file a federal lawsuit seeking court-ordered remedies. The department provided Fulton County and the local sheriff’s office with a written notice outlining the minimum remedial measures to address the alleged violations. “The County will work with the Justice Department toward a cooperative resolution,” the release said.
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