The report addresses an array of systemic behaviors in the Georgia prison system: “deliberately indifferent” to unchecked deadly violence, “widespread drug use, and extortion and sexual abuse at state lockups.”
In a report issued Tuesday, the U.S. Justice Department threatened to sue the state “if it doesn’t quickly take steps to curb rampant violations of prisoners’ Eighth Amendment protections against cruel punishment.”
Allegations of violence, chaos and “grossly inadequate” staffing are laid out in the Justice Department’s 93-page report. The report is the result of a statewide civil rights investigation into Georgia prisons announced in September 2021.
Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke said Tuesday at a news conference in Atlanta: “In America, time in prison should not be a sentence to death, torture or rape.” Clarke oversees the Justice Department’s civil rights division.
Georgia prison officials refuted the Justice Department’s finding, publishing a statement asserting the prison system, which holds an estimated 50,000 people, “operates in a manner exceeding the requirements of the United States Constitution” and decrying the possibility of “years of expensive and unproductive court monitoring” by federal officials.
In its public response, the Georgia Department of Corrections (GDC) is quoted as saying that the Department was “extremely disappointed” in the accusations. The GDC further asserted that the Justice Department’s findings “reflect a fundamental misunderstanding of the current challenges of operating any prison system.”
The U S DoJ report made the accusation that “large, sophisticated gangs run prison black markets trafficking in drugs, weapons and electronic devices such as drones and smart phones.” Officials fight the flow of contraband through the arrest of smugglers and mass searches. “However, the constant flow of contraband underscores that these efforts have been insufficient,” the report said.
Inmate gangs have allegedly “co-opted” some administrative functions, including bed assignments, said Ryan Buchanan, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia. “The leadership of the Georgia Department of Corrections has lost control of its facilities.”
