Prison Violence Draws Statewide Federal Civil Rights Inquiry

ATLANTA — The U.S. Justice Department is opening a sweeping civil investigation into systemic violence and abuse against gay, lesbian and transgender inmates in Georgia prisons.

The Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department will lead the statewide probe, looking into all 35 state prisons for cases of inmate-on-inmate attacks and sexual abuse. The investigation will examine whether Georgia provides prisoners reasonable protection from physical harm at the hands of other prisoners.

“Ensuring the inherent human dignity and worth of everyone, including people who are incarcerated inside our nation’s jails and prisons, is a top priority,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “The Justice Department’s investigations into prison conditions have been successful at identifying systemic constitutional violations and their causes, fixing those causes, and stopping the violations. We are investigating prison violence and abuse in Georgia’s prisons to determine whether Constitutional violations exist, and if so, how to stop them.”

Georgia Department of Corrections spokeswoman Lori Benoit said state prison officials will continue to work with the Justice Department on the investigation, but refuted any claims of systemic violence or civil rights violations.

“The GDC is committed to the safety of all of the offenders in its custody and denies that it has engaged in a pattern or practice of violating their civil rights or failing to protect them from harm due to violence,” Benoit said. “This commitment includes the protection of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) prisoners from sexual harassment, sexual abuse, and sexual assault. We cooperated fully with the USDOJ’s initial investigation in 2016 and are proud of the service and dedication of our team since then to perform during unprecedented challenges.”

Clarke, however, pointed to at least 26 confirmed or suspected cases of inmate homicides and more than 18 thus far this year as examples of problems in the state prison system.

“Reports of countless other violent assaults including stabbings. And beatings also have emerged from Georgia prisons” she said, indicating that reports of contraband weapons and gang activity abound.

To compound this, high prison staff turnover and understaffing persist, she said.

“We also will continue to work with our existing investigation into whether the state of Georgia adequately protects lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex or LGBTI prisoners from sexual abuse by other prisoners and by staff,” Clarke said.

All three acting U.S. Attorney’s offices in Georgia — the Northern, Middle, and Southern districts — will coordinate on the investigation.

“Individuals sentenced to prison in Georgia Department of Corrections facilities deserve to be treated humanely,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Kurt R. Erskine, who represents the Northern District of Georgia in Atlanta. “Our office is committed to ensuring state prisoners are safe while serving their sentences. We look forward to working cooperatively with the Georgia Department of Corrections to ensure the safety of all individuals in its prisons.”