Justice Department to investigate Georgia's prisons after reports of violence, deplorable conditions
Source: Washington Post
Justice Department to investigate Georgias prisons after reports of violence, deplorable conditions
By
Paulina Villegas
September 14, 2021 at 11:25 p.m. EDT
The Justice Department is launching an investigation into civil rights violations in Georgia prisons, focusing on prisoner-on-prisoner violence and the targeting of LGBT inmates by prisoners and staff, federal officials said Tuesday.
The announcement comes after advocacy groups said deplorable conditions of confinement and escalating violence including homicides and suicides have only worsened during the coronavirus pandemic. It is part of civil rights initiatives by the Justice Department under the Biden administration to reform the nations law enforcement agencies and prisons.
The Justice Department found significant justification to open the investigation, Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke said in a video news conference Tuesday, citing public reports of dozens of homicides, stabbings and beatings, scores of smuggled weapons, and open gang activity inside state-run prisons, along with extreme staff shortages.
The Justice Department will look into reports of conditions inside state facilities, where 26 people died last year in confirmed or suspected homicides. So far this year, there have been 18 homicides, said Clarke, who will be the lead examiner.
If federal investigators find evidence of systemic violations, they will issue a written report outlining minimal remedial measures, which the Department of Corrections would be required to implement. Clarke added that the Justice Department would work with the state to find and establish solutions.
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Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2021/09/14/justice-department-launches-probe-georgia-prisons/