(The Center Square) – The U.S. Department of Justice said Friday it has reached a proposed consent decree with Fulton County over jail conditions the department said violated the U.S. Constitution.
The agreement comes after a Nov. 14 report that called jail conditions “symptomatic of a pattern of dangerous and dehumanizing conditions.”
The Justice Department filed a complaint against the jail, which was anticipated, Sheriff Patrick Labat said in a statement.
The proposed decree requires the sheriff’s office to take steps to protect inmates considered a suicide risk and stop housing vulnerable people at risk of harming themselves in isolation.
The Justice Department’s investigation showed that Lashawn Thompson, who had a history of mental health issues, died in jail three months after his arrest on what were called “low-level charges.” Thompson was infested with lice and was “neglected to death,” the Justice Department said of the September 2022 fatality.
An independent monitor will oversee the jail’s implementation of the consent decree, which also includes improvements in cleanliness and safety.
“Detention in the Fulton County Jail amounted to a death sentence for dozens of people who have been murdered or who died as a result of inhumane conditions inside the facility,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “If fully implemented, this consent decree and its comprehensive remedies should reduce violence and unnecessary force; increase the quality of medical and mental health care; reduce the use of unnecessary isolation, particularly for people with mental illness and 17-year-old children; and afford children with disabilities the education to which they are entitled.”
A court must approve the decree before it takes effect.
Labat said he had already improved the jail since taking office in 2021. He requested technical assistance from the Justice Department’s Bureau of Justice Assistance and National Institute of Corrections in September 2022, according to a news release.
“In addition, in collaboration with our Fulton County justice partners, we reduced the inmate population by nearly 1,100, such that all individuals are assigned a bed, and no one is sleeping on portable sleeping devices on the floor,” the sheriff’s office said in a news release. “Other efforts include purchasing medical beds, updating and adding padded cells, continuous rehabilitation of housing units, repairing kitchen equipment, initiated staffing incentives to include signing bonuses, retention bonuses, double overtime and pay raises.”
Some of those initiatives were dismantled, according to the sheriff, who has sparred with the Fulton County Commission over funding.
The sheriff must comply with the order once it is approved, but the order does not outline how much the items could cost or how they will be funded.
“This consent order is a roadmap to a better future for our facility, staff, and the individuals entrusted to our care,” Labat said. “Together, these opportunities will build meaningful and long-lasting change.”
