The Fulton County is “abhorrent, unconstitutional” and a violation of civil rights, according to a report by Department of Justice.
After a 16-month study, federal officials released a 97-page report outlining the multiple issues within the jail located on Rice Street in Atlanta. The report revealed that authorities at the jail failed to protect inmates from violent encounters including homicides, stabbings, and sexual abuse. Guards at the jail were also accused of the overuse of violence against inmates and using solitary confinement in ways that were unconstitutional and discriminatory.
The report also detailed unsanitary conditions such as pest infestations, broken toilets, and standing water and exposed wire.
During a press conference, Attorney General Kristen Clarke shed light on the issues.
“At the end of the day, people do not abandon their civil and constitutional rights at the jailhouse door,” Clarke said. “Jails and prisons across the country must protect people from the kind of gross violations and unconstitutional conditions that we have uncovered here.”
In 2023, 10 inmates died at the jail. The deaths occurred during a time when the national media focused on the Fulton County Jail after former President Donald Trump was being booked at the facility on a RICO charge in August of 2023.
But unlike the former president, many of the people who are booked into the jail aren’t able to post bond and leave within an hour. The horror stories emanating from detainees and visitors to the Rice Street facility has remained consistent.