Scathing Justice Dept report says Georgia jail left inmates vulnerable to dangerous conditions

The jail in Georgia’s largest county, Fulton County, leaves its inmates vulnerable to “substantial risk of serious harm from violence” and violates their constitutional and statutory rights, according to a new Justice Department report released Thursday. 

After a more than year-long civil rights probe into the Fulton County Jail – which has long been plagued by overcrowding, understaffing and violence — federal investigators concluded detainees are subjected to “dangerous and unsanitary” conditions, like pest infestations and malnourishment. These conditions especially endanger those with mental health conditions, the report found. 

“None of these problems are new,” the report said. “And despite widespread awareness of these issues, the unconstitutional and illegal conditions have persisted.” 

The Justice Department launched its civil investigation into Fulton County’s jail in July 2023, after at least four Black inmates died in the mental health unit in a matter of weeks, including two who were killed by their cellmates. “Within weeks of opening our investigation, six more Black men had died in the Jail,” the Justice Department revealed. The family of one inmate, Lashawn Johnson, said he died in in the jail in 2022, after he was “eaten alive” by insects and bedbugs. About 91% of the jail’s total population is Black, according to the report, compared to 45% of the overall Fulton County population.

Justice Department investigators conducted multiple site visits, expert consultations and interviews with inmates and staff. 

Crumbling infrastructure, failing security, abusive staff and insufficient medical and mental health treatment contributed to the overall unconstitutional conditions described in the report. 

According to the county sheriff, 62% of the jail’s inmates suffer from mental health or substance use disorders and the staff failed to provide proper treatment or take steps to mitigate risks of suicide. 

“We found that 75% of those who died in the Jail since January 2021 had a current mental health diagnosis or reported a history of mental illness,” the report said. 

Justice Department investigators noted in their findings that Fulton County and the sheriff sought to remedy some of the issues, including by surging millions in emergency funding and sending some inmates to detention facilities in other districts. 

Still, the problems persisted. In 2024, three men in Fulton County’s main jail have died, including one person who was stabbed 20 times in April. From 2022 to the present, according to the report, “six incarcerated people have died in violent attacks.” All six victims were Black men, the Justice Department said. 

Non-lethal violent assaults are also rampant inside the jail. In 2023, the Sheriff’s Office said there were 1,054 assaults and more than 300 stabbings in the jail. The investigation also uncovered a pattern or practice of sexual abuse, according to the report. 

Announcing the report’s findings, Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Department said officials in Fulton County have taken “preliminary steps” to address the issues outlined in the report, but such measures are “not enough.” 

The Justice Department’s report outlines various remedial measures the jail must carry out to improve the conditions, like increased accountability measures for staff, overhauling how the jail secures its facilities from violence and contraband, and ensuring proper suicide prevention measures. 

“At the end of the day, people do not abandon their civil and constitutional rights at the jailhouse door,” Clarke said. “We can fix these problems,” she added later. 

The Fulton County Sheriff’s Office, which runs the jail, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Justice Department officials on Thursday noted the sheriff had cooperated with the probe.