The U.S. Justice Department says it has reasonable cause to believe that Georgia violates the Eighth Amendment by failing to protect incarcerated persons from violence and sexual abuse, and by failing to provide reasonably safe conditions, according to a new report. Getty Images
Conditions in Georgia prisons are so bad that they violate the Constitutional rights of inmates against cruel and unusual punishment, according to the United States Justice Department, and the state is “deliberately indifferent” to the unsafe conditions.
A Justice Department report released Monday says a lawsuit from Attorney General Merrick Garland could be coming soon if the state does not correct problems flagged by the Justice Department, which says a lack of staffing – with vacancy rates above 60% or 70% at several larger and more dangerous prisons – as well as a feeling of the inevitability of violence among workers and leadership, contribute to “systemic violence and chaos.”
“It is plainly evident, from not only the staffing levels and crime in the prisons but also by the prevalence of harm, that Georgia exposes the people it incarcerates to a substantial risk of serious harm, and that (the Georgia Department of Corrections’) policies and practices have failed to address the pervasive problems,” the report finds. “Georgia has known of the substantial risk of serious harm presented by widespread violence and sexual abuse in its prisons, but rather than address the violence, it has failed to take reasonable steps to address those unconstitutional conditions.”
In an email, Georgia Department of Corrections communications director Joan Heath said the department is “extremely disappointed” to learn of the accusations, arguing the DOJ ignored efforts from state corrections staff and initiatives to improve conditions.
“Contrary to DOJ’s allegations, the State of Georgia’s prison system operates in a manner exceeding the requirements of the United States Constitution. In short, the Notice Letter focuses on the challenges faced by prison systems across our country – correctional staffing, violence perpetuated by inmates, and unlawful gang activity. These issues also plague the Federal Bureau of Prisons – DOJ’s own prison system. Hence, DOJ’s findings today reflect a fundamental misunderstanding of the current challenges of operating any prison system.”
“The GDC fully cooperated with DOJ’s investigation and will continue to do so as we begin discussions with DOJ over next steps,” Heath continued. “As history demonstrates, DOJ’s track record in prison oversight is poor – often entangling systems in years of expensive and unproductive court monitoring. As merely one example, court monitoring instigated by DOJ at Riker’s Island remains on-going after eight years, despite the fact that New York City employs one jail officer for every inmate at Riker’s Island.”
The federal report includes descriptions of numerous assaults, including beatings stabbings, rapes and acts of torture. The report finds that the homicide rate in Georgia prisons in 2019 was nearly triple that of the national average, and “the numbers of homicides have increased precipitously since then.”
The authors find that other serious and life-threatening incidents are “exponentially more frequent,” and that from January 2022 through April 2023, there were more than 1,400 reported incidents of violence in Georgia’s medium- and close-security prisons, and that the actual number is likely higher because of incidents going unreported or improperly classified in reports.
In interviews at 16 of the 17 prisons visited by federal investigators, inmates consistently reported seeing life-threatening violence and that weapons were widespread. The report notes that Walker State Prison, a smaller prison in Rock Spring, with a more rehabilitative programming and a higher proportion of security staff positions filled, was the exception.
In addition, gangs have “unacceptable levels of control over large sections of Georgia’s prison system,” and the Justice Department says the correction department’s lack of a centralized approach to dealing with gangs exacerbates the problem, contributing to violence and criminal activity and posing a danger to both inmates and staff.
The report indicates that sexual assault and rape are “rampant” among incarcerated people, and that LGBTQ inmates are particularly vulnerable. The Justice Department alleges that Georgia corrections does not sufficiently screen or house LGBTQ prisoners to protect them from harm.
The report credits the corrections department for taking steps to fix some of its problems, including raising salaries and creating new roles, but it says the efforts have been inadequate to provide minimally adequate constitutional protections.
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