Fulton Jail, Cops 'Routinely' Violate Inmates' Rights, DOJ Says

ATLANTA, GA — The Department of Justice on Thursday found the Fulton County Sheriff's Office "routinely" violates the constitutional and statutory rights of Fulton jail inmates and says the jail fails to protect inmates from "serious harm."

The DOJ opened its probe into the Fulton County Jail in July 2023 after some inmate deaths were reported. The Georgia Senate started its investigation into the jail in October 2023.

Contraband and the arrests of some of the jail's detention officers have also been a concern.

Patch has obtained a copy of the DOJ's 97-page Fulton County Jail findings report.

In the report, the DOJ said its probe centered on living conditions, protection from harm, use of force, medical and mental health care and discrimination against people diagnosed with psychiatric disabilities.

So far this year, three people have died at the Rice Street jail - one of a suspected drug overdose, one by stabbing and one by suicide, the DOJ said. Rice Street currently has a population of 2,000 inmates but has housed more than 3,000 people in recent years.

The Fulton County Sheriff's Office, under the guidance of Sheriff Pat Labat, also operates the Marietta Annex in Atlanta, the North Annex in Alpharetta and the South Annex in Union City.

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The DOJ said the following findings have contributed to multiple deaths or harm:

• From 2022 to the present, six incarcerated people have died in violence at the jail.
• In 2023, more than 300 stabbings occurred in the jail which involved contraband and makeshift weapons.
• Four deaths from suicide happened at the jail in the past four years, including as recently as April of this year.

The DOJ found the following conditions neglected to meet "basic constitutional standards:"

• Fulton County and the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office fail to protect people from the substantial risk of serious harm from violence by other incarcerated people, including homicides, stabbings and sexual abuse.
• Officers use excessive force against incarcerated people.
• The jail houses incarcerated people in constitutionally inadequate living conditions that are unsanitary and dangerous.
• The jail fails to provide adequate medical and mental health services.
• The jail’s restrictive housing practices expose people, including 17-year-old children, to substantial harm, discriminate against people with mental health disabilities and fail to provide incarcerated people due process of law.
• The jail fails to provide special education services to 17-year-old boys and girls who are entitled to those services while they are incarcerated at the facility.

“In Fulton County, people in custody awaiting formal charges or trials frequently must protect themselves from brutal physical attacks, endure frequent excessive force, manage their wellbeing with inadequate food and unsanitary living conditions and hope they can find access to a strained medical and mental health care program," said U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Buchanan, of the DOJ's Northern District of Georgia office, in a news release.

"This is unacceptable. Our Constitution requires humane conditions while incarcerated that, at a minimum, ensure people in custody are safe. The findings regarding the Fulton County Jail reveal grave and diffuse failures to safeguard the men and women housed in its facilities, including a disturbing frequency of deaths among incarcerated people. We expect Fulton County and the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office to share our sense of urgency about the seriousness of the violations described in this report and to work cooperatively with our Office and the Department of Justice to remedy these systemic deficiencies in the jail.”

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• DOJ Opens Investigation Into Fulton Jail
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• Lashawn Thompson, Inmate Who Died In ATL Jail, Suffered 1K Bug Bites
• Death Of Fulton Inmate Ruled Homicide Due To 'Severe Neglect': Autopsy

The DOJ's investigation followed the death of Lashawn Thompson, who died in September 2022 while incarcerated in the jail's psychiatric wing.

A May 20 autopsy, paid for by NFL player and civil rights activist Colin Kaepernick, revealed Thompson's cause of death was complications due to severe neglect with a contributing cause of untreated decompensated schizophrenia. The report noted significant conditions were dehydration, malnutrition and severe body insect infestation.

Thompson suffered more than 1,000 bug bites on his body while in custody, family attorney Ben Crump said at a past press conference.

“Lashawn Thompson’s horrific death was symptomatic of a pattern of dangerous and dehumanizing conditions in the Fulton County Jail. The Justice Department’s report concluded that Fulton County and the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office allowed unsafe and unsanitary conditions at the Jail," Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said in a news release.

"As a result, people incarcerated in the Fulton County Jail suffered harms from pest infestation and malnourishment and were put at substantial risk of serious harm from violence by other incarcerated people — including homicides, stabbings and sexual abuse. 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.”

In its report, the DOJ noted three high-ranking members of the sheriff's office resigned in connection with Thompson's death.

Patch has reached out to the Fulton County Sheriff's Office and to Attorney Ben Crump for comment.