Long-standing health and safety issues plague Atlanta jail where Trump was booked

John Yang:

The Fulton County Jail in Atlanta became front-page news last week as the place where former President Donald Trump and his 18 co-defendants surrendered to be booked on felony charges. Many spent just a matter of minutes there.

But, as William Brangham reports, it's a much different story for the jail's long-term residents.

William Brangham:

John, just this week, two prisoners at the Fulton County Jail died while in custody.

That brings the total to nine who have died there so far this year. These jailhouse deaths are not limited to Atlanta, of course. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, 1,200 people died in local jails in the U.S. in 2019. That's the most recent year there is data.

But, in Fulton County, conditions are so bad that the Department of Justice launched an investigation this summer into prisoners' access to medical care and the use of excessive force by the sheriff's office.

For a closer look at this, we turn to Chamian Cruz. She's a criminal justice reporter for public media station WABE in Atlanta.

Chamian, thank you so much for being here.

Can you tell us a little bit more about these latest deaths? How are these prisoners dying and under what kinds of circumstances?

Chamian Cruz, Criminal Justice Reporter, WABE:

Yes.

So, I will say that I haven't been inside the facility myself, but the Fulton County sheriff, Pat Labat, has long said that the county needs a new jail. He says that the walls are quite literally crumbling, to the point that inmates are using some of the material that they're finding around the facility to make shanks and other weapons.

Just this week, four people were stabbed inside the jail. And that includes a 23-year-old man who died from his injuries. As you said, that makes nine people who have died at the jail so far this year and five in the span of a month.

Now, we're still waiting on the results of those autopsies. But Sheriff Pat Labat has said that they range from natural causes to preexisting health conditions, and even homicide.

William Brangham:

I mean, it's just sort of incredible that this is happening in a modern American city.

And we should stress too that these are people who are — not been convicted. They're in jail awaiting trial or sentencing, right?

Chamian Cruz:

Yes, that's right.

Officials with the Department of Justice said that about 87 percent of the jail population is Black, and the vast majority have not been convicted. Most are awaiting bail hearings or simply cannot post bail.

William Brangham:

We spoke with a criminal justice reform advocate down there, Atteeyah Hollie.

Here's what she said about the jail.

Atteeyah Hollie, The Southern Center For Human Rights:

It is a place that has been steeped in overcrowding and neglect and people receiving poor mental health care, violence.

And I think if you look at the spectrum of problems that can occur in a jail, you will see each and almost every problem at the Fulton County Jail.

William Brangham:

So, Chamian, how have complaints been handled in the past about this? I mean, certainly, this is not the first time that this has come up as an issue.

Chamian Cruz:

Yes, so this has happened — this has been happening for years.

But the family of a 35-year-old man — his name is Lashawn Thompson — actually launched the complaint that a lot of people have probably heard about by now. He was being held at the Fulton County Jail for three months. He was in the psychiatric ward of the facility, and he was there for just three months waiting on a hearing.

He had not yet been convicted. And according to an incident report that I saw, he was found unresponsive in his cell face down in the toilet, and completely covered in bedbugs. An independent autopsy later found that he had been severely neglected and that he had not been receiving the care or the medicine that he needed to treat his mental health condition.

After that case came to light, the U.S. Department of Justice announced that it was launching its investigation into living conditions at the jail. And case — after this case came to light, the county actually spent about $5 million this year to try to improve conditions at the jail.

But it's just been — as the sheriff says, it's just been a Band-Aid. Nothing has really been done to relieve the overcrowding, other than also just, like, renting out bed space in other counties and things like that. But these issues are still happening, still going on.

William Brangham:

If the DOJ finds that the sheriff's office or Fulton County has been negligent, what are possible remedies here?

Chamian Cruz:

As far as I know, the county has actually started looking at several options to build a new jail. They think that it would cost about $1.6 billion.

And the reason that they say that they went ahead and moved forward with this is because they think that the Department of Justice, after it completes its investigation, is going to force them to build a new facility anyway.

Now, we don't know how long this investigation could take, but the county is moving forward with these plans.

William Brangham:

The reason everyone started to pay attention to Fulton County Jail nationally was because that's where former President Trump and his co-defendants had to report.

We can assume, I take it, that they had markedly different treatment while they were there?

Chamian Cruz:

That's right.

When this indictment was announced, the Fulton County sheriff said that they would be treated just like anybody else. But, as far as I know, only one co-defendant spent time in a cell at the Fulton County Jail. And former President Donald Trump was only here for about 20 minutes while he was being processed and posted his $200,000 bail.

And that's just not the reality for most people who step foot in this facility.

William Brangham:

All right, Chamian Cruz of WABE in Atlanta, thank you so much.

Chamian Cruz:

Thank you.