By Jozsef Papp
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
ATLANTA — The U.S. Department of Justice and Fulton County have reached a legal agreement, known as a consent decree, to resolve deplorable and unsafe conditions at the Fulton County Jail on Rice Street.
The agreement requires the county to keep inmates safe from violence, improve supervision and staffing, improve inmate health care and make other significant upgrades.
“The proposed consent decree serves as a cooperative measure to address the grievous pattern of inhumane — and frequently violent — treatment of people in custody, along with the filthy and unsanitary living conditions they endure while awaiting formal charges or trials at the Fulton County Jail,” Ryan Buchanan, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia, said in a statement.
The announcement comes months after the DOJ released a report that found jail conditions were “abhorrent, unconstitutional” and violated the 8th and 14th amendments to the U.S. Constitution. The six-month probe at the Rice Street facility and three annexes found authorities frequently failed to protect inmates’ safety, presiding over an environment that has led to homicides, stabbings and sexual abuse.
Guards too often resorted to violence against detainees following small infractions and used solitary confinement in unconstitutional and discriminatory ways, according to the report.
The Sheriff’s Office said in a statement that it has been working closely with federal officials regarding the conditions at jail, and on the requirements listed in the decree.
“This consent order is a road map to a better future for our facility, staff, and the individuals entrusted to our care,” Fulton Sheriff Patrick Labat said in a statement. “Together, these opportunities will build meaningful and long-lasting change.”
Fulton County officials said they are committed to collaborating with the DOJ, the sheriff and others to fulfill the terms of the agreement.
“Importantly, Fulton County will continue its work to improve the Jail facility,” the statement said. “In 2024, the Board of Commissioners committed to investing up to $300 million in Jail facility improvements and we have already taken significant steps in that effort.”
The Civil Rights advocacy group Color of Change said in a statement that they applaud the agreement but still have major concerns about leadership in the Sheriff’s Office.
“Until you address the sheriff, until you address the culture, and until you address the trust, the County runs the risk of repeating its history of death and destruction with respect to the Jail,” said Michael Collins, senior director of the organization.
Labat won reelection in November.
The agreement still needs to be approved by a federal court judge. Among the issues outlined in it, the Sheriff’s Office must:
—Develop plans and policies to keep incarcerated people safe from violence.
—Improve supervision and staffing.
—Maintain doors and locks in working order.
—Require staff to abide by constitutional standards when using force.
—Take steps to protect incarcerated people at risk of suicide, and to afford incarcerated people adequate medical and mental health care.
—Develop and implement a comprehensive housekeeping plan and pest management system to keep the jail clean, sanitary and free of pests.
—Stop use of isolation or restrictive housing of vulnerable people who are at substantial risk of self-harm or other negative mental health outcomes, absent specific and significant protections.
—Facilitate the provision of adequate special education services to children with disabilities in the Jail.
An independent monitor will be named to track implementation of those requirements, and will issue a public report on the jail’s progress every six months.
The DOJ began investigating the Fulton County Jail in July 2023, after the death of Lashawn Thompson in the jail’s psychiatric wing. An autopsy found that Thompson’s death was due to severe neglect, and photos showed him covered in insects in a cell filled with garbage.
Opened in 1989, the Fulton County jail was under federal supervision between 2006 and 2015. It currently houses roughly 2,000 people, down from the more than 3,200 who were there 18 months ago.
More than 60 inmates died in the jail between 2009 and October 2022, the highest total for any jail in Georgia during that time, according to an Atlanta Journal-Constitution investigation. Ten more inmates died in custody in 2023.
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