Justice Dept. to Investigate Fulton County Jail in Georgia
The Justice Department said on Thursday that it was investigating the conditions at a jail in Fulton County, Ga., citing reports of violence, deteriorating surroundings and the death last year of an inmate who was covered in lice and feces.
The civil investigation, part of a broader effort by the department to scrutinize conditions at jails and prisons across the country, will also examine whether officers used excessive force, the availability of medical care and the treatment of mentally ill prisoners.
“Detention or incarceration in jail should not include exposure to unconstitutional living conditions that place lives in jeopardy or risk of serious harm from assaults,” Kristen Clarke, an assistant attorney general who leads the agency’s civil rights division, said in announcing the investigation. “Jail facilities must provide constitutional and humane conditions, in which all people can live safely while they go through the criminal process.”
The Fulton County government and sheriff’s office said in a joint statement that they planned to cooperate fully.
Source: The New York Times
