Justice Department finds Georgia is 'deliberately indifferent' to unchecked abuses at its prisons

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Justice Department finds Georgia is 'deliberately indifferent' to unchecked abuses at its prisons

2024-10-02 08:33 Last Updated At：08:41

ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia prison officials are “deliberately indifferent” to unchecked deadly violence, widespread drug use, extortion and sexual abuse at state lockups, the U.S. Justice Department said Tuesday, threatening to sue the state if it doesn’t quickly take steps to curb rampant violations of prisoners’ Eighth Amendment protections against cruel punishment.

Prison officials responded with a statement saying the prison system “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.

Allegations of violence, chaos and “grossly inadequate” staffing are laid out in the Justice Department's grim 93-page report, the result of a statewide civil rights investigation into Georgia prisons announced in September 2021. The system holds an estimated 50,000 people.

“In America, time in prison should not be a sentence to death, torture or rape,” Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke, who oversees the Justice Department’s civil rights division, said Tuesday as she discussed the findings at an Atlanta news conference.

In its response, the Georgia Department of Corrections said it was “extremely disappointed” in the accusations. The Justice Department’s findings “reflect a fundamental misunderstanding of the current challenges of operating any prison system,” the agency said.

The report said 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."

The number of homicides among prisoners has grown over the years — from seven in 2018 to 35 in 2023, the report said. The report said there were five homicides at four different prisons in just one month in 2023.

And the homicide numbers are often hard to nail down in Georgia Department of Corrections statistics, according to the report.

“GDC reported in its June 2024 mortality data that, for the first five months of 2024, there were 6 homicides, even though at least 18 deaths were categorized as homicides in GDC incident reports, and GDC assured us these suspected homicides were under investigation," the report said.

Multiple allegations of sexual abuse are recounted in the report, including abuse of LGBTQ inmates. A transgender woman reported being sexually assaulted at knifepoint. Another inmate said he was “extorted for money” and sexually abused after six people entered his cell.

“In March 2021, a man from Georgia State Prison who had to be hospitalized due to physical injuries and food deprivation reported his cellmate had been sexually assaulting and raping him over time,” the report said.

Again, the true number of such assaults may be higher. Victims are often reluctant to report sexual abuse, the report noted. And the report alleged that investigations of such abuse are sometimes questionable, as in the case of an Autry State Prison inmate who reported being raped at knifepoint. “A chemical examination of a rectum swab indicated the presence of seminal fluid, and the man was found to have bruising to his anal area. Despite this, the final OPS investigative report incorrectly determined that no seminal fluid was detected, and the allegations were not substantiated.”

Clarke said Tuesday that efforts to stop the violence, suffering and chaos in the Georgia prison system also figure into the pursuit of racial justice.

“We know that across the country, Black people are disproportionately represented in the prison population," she said. "And Georgia is no exception — 59% of people in Georgia’s prisons are Black, compared to 31% of the state’s population.”

Included in the report are 13 pages of recommended short-and long-term measures the state should take. The report concludes with a warning that legal action was likely. The document said the Attorney General may file a lawsuit to correct the problems in 49 days, and could also intervene in any related, existing private suits in 15 days.

“We can’t turn a blind eye to the wretched conditions and wanton violence unfolding in these institutions,” Clarke said. “The people incarcerated in these jails and prisons are our neighbors, siblings, children, parents, family members and friends.”“

However, Clarke did not discuss possible legal action during the news conference in Atlanta. She said the Justice Department looked forward to working with Georgia officials to address the myriad problems.

“Certainly, severe staffing shortages are one critical part of the problem here,” Clarke said. “We set forth in our report minimal remedial measures that include adding supervision and staffing, fixing the classification and housing system, and correcting deficiencies when it comes to reporting and investigations.”

McGill reported from New Orleans; Durkin, from Washington.

Jimmy Carter and his hometown of Plains celebrate the 39th president's 100th birthday

2024-10-02 08:31 Last Updated At：08:40

PLAINS, Ga. (AP) — Longtime friends, family and fans of Jimmy Carter milled around his hometown of Plains to celebrate his 100th birthday on Tuesday, the first time an American president has lived a full century and the latest milestone in a life that took the Depression-era farmer's son to the White House and across the world as a Nobel Peace Prize-winning humanitarian and advocate for democracy.

Living the last 19 months in home hospice care, the 39th president keeps defying expectations, just as he did through a remarkable rise from his family peanut farming and warehouse business to the world stage. The Democrat served one presidential term from 1977 to 1981 and then for four decades led The Carter Center, which he and his wife Rosalynn co-founded in 1982 to “wage peace, fight disease, and build hope.”

“Not everybody gets 100 years on this earth, and when somebody does, and when they use that time to do so much good for so many people, it's worth celebrating," his grandson Jason Carter, chair of The Carter Center governing board, said in an interview.

“These last few months, 19 months, now that he’s been in hospice, it’s been a chance for our family to reflect,” he continued, “and then for the rest of the country and the world to really reflect on him. That’s been a really gratifying time.”

James Earl Carter Jr. was born Oct. 1, 1924 in Plains, where he lives in the same one-story home he and Rosalynn built in the early 1960s, before his first election to the Georgia state Senate. The former first lady, also from Plains, died last November at 96.

About 25 family members filled his home Tuesday, enjoying cupcakes on the front lawn while antique World War II planes flew over in his honor. At night, they planned to gather around the TV to watch the vice-presidential debate.

Chip Carter said his father’s next goal is to make it to Election Day.

"He’s plugged in," Carter said in an interview. “I asked him two months ago if he was trying to live to be 100, and he said, No, I'm trying to live to vote for Kamala Harris.”

Chip Carter sat in the front row of a naturalization ceremony held annually on his father's birthday for 100 new citizens at Plains High School, which his father attended. The building is now a museum.

Jill Stuckey, superintendent of the Jimmy Carter National Historic Park, recalled that a teacher once told Carter's class that one of the students would be president someday. She said Carter “took it to heart.”

“One thing I’ve learned is to never underestimate Jimmy Carter, because if you do, he will prove you wrong,” Stuckey said.

President Joe Biden, the first sitting senator to endorse Carter’s 1976 campaign, praised his longtime friend for an “unwavering belief in the power of human goodness.”

“You’ve always been a moral force for our nation and the world (and) a beloved friend to Jill and me and our family,” the 81-year-old president said in a tribute video, recorded in front of Carter’s White House portrait. Carter asked Biden to eulogize him at his state funeral when the time comes.

But even on Carter’s 100th birthday, Donald Trump could not pass up repeating his longstanding jab at the Georgia Democrat. Trump labeled Biden “the worst president,” and said Carter is “the happiest man because Carter is considered a brilliant president by comparison.” It was hollow praise for the one-term president who was defeated by Ronald Reagan in 1980 but went on to become a respected world figure.

Georgia's Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, for his part, declared Tuesday “Jimmy Carter Day” to recognize his legacy as the state's 76th governor. Other birthday events have included a musical gala in Atlanta with dozens of artists, airing Tuesday evening on Georgia Public Broadcasting, that has raised more than $1.2 million for The Carter Center. Townspeople in Plains planned another concert Tuesday evening.

And Habitat for Humanity volunteers are devoting this week to build 30 houses in his honor in St. Paul, Minnesota. The Carters served as ambassadors for the organization, hosted annual building projects into their 90s.

Minister Barbara Green and Deacon William Le Green of Americus came to Main Street in Plains to honor Carter, who helped build their Habitat for Humanity home in the early 2000s. Le Green recalled how Carter gave the couple hammers to keep, along with their keys.

“He didn't mind getting his hands dirty, or anything of the kind,” Le Green said.

Jimmy Carter was last seen publicly nearly a year ago, visibly diminished and silent as he used a reclining wheelchair to attend his wife's two funeral services. Jason Carter said the family hadn't expected to enjoy his 100th birthday after she died. The former president's hospital bed had been set up so he could see and talk to his wife of 77 years in her final days and hours.

“We frankly didn’t think he was going to go on much longer,” Jason Carter said. “He’s really given himself over to what he feels is God’s plan. He knows he's not in charge. But in these last few months, especially, he has gotten a lot more engaged in world events, a lot more engaged in politics, a lot more, just engaged, emotionally, with all of us.”

He said the centenarian president, born four years after women were granted the constitutional right to vote and four decades before Black women won ballot access, is eager to cast his 2024 presidential ballot for the Democrat who would be first woman, second Black person and first person of south Asian descent to reach the Oval Office.

“He, like a lot of us, was incredibly gratified by his friend Joe Biden’s courageous choice to pass the torch,” the younger Carter said. “You know, my grandfather and The Carter Center have observed more than 100 elections in 40 other countries, right? So, he knows how rare it is for somebody who’s a sitting president to give up power in any context.”

Early voting in Georgia begins Oct. 15, two weeks into Carter's 101st year.

Barrow reported from Atlanta.