ATLANTA (AP) — The U.S. Justice Department announced Friday that it has entered into a court-enforceable agreement with Georgia's most populous county after finding that violence and filthy conditions in county lockups violated the constitutional rights of people held in jail.
The Justice Department has filed a complaint and proposed consent decree in federal court, and the agreement must still be approved by a judge, the agency said in a news release.
“Our topline goal with this consent decree is to bring the Fulton County Jail within compliance with the U.S. Constitution and federal law,” U.S. Attorney Ryan Buchanan said in an interview Friday. He added that compliance would result in “increased safety for the folks who live in Fulton County or folks who are arrested and wind up in custody in the Fulton County Jail.”
In July 2023, the Justice Department opened a civil rights investigation into jail conditions in Fulton County, citing violence, filthy living quarters and the in-custody death of a man whose body was found covered in insects. That investigation found that jail officials failed to protect detainees from violence, used excessive force and held them in “unconstitutional and illegal conditions.”
The Fulton County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release that it had anticipated the Justice Department’s filing and has been working with the department and the county attorney’s office. The agreement to enter into a consent decree came after “extensive negotiations,” the release says.
“This consent order is a road map to a better future for our facility, staff, and the individuals entrusted to our care,” Sheriff Pat Labat said. “Together, these opportunities will build meaningful and long-lasting change.”
Under the proposed agreement with the county and sheriff, officials will develop plans and policies to keep detainees safe from violence, improve supervision and staffing, ensure doors and locks work and require staff to adhere to constitutional standards when using force. They will also take steps to protect detainees who are at risk of suicide and to give detainees adequate medical and mental health care. And they will develop a housekeeping and pest control plan to keep the jail clean and sanitary.
The jail will also stop using isolation for vulnerable people at risk of self harm and will facilitate the provision of adequate special education services to children with disabilities held in the jail, the consent decree says.
The proposed consent decree provides for an independent monitor, who is to be agreed upon by the parties, to be appointed for an initial period of two years to assess the jail’s implementation of its requirements and to provide a public report every six months. The agreement doesn't include a timeline but says it will end once the county has achieved compliance with its conditions and maintained that compliance for a year.
If there are problems, the Justice Department can turn to the court for help enforcing the agreement. But Buchanan said that the county has shown a willingness so far to cooperate.
“As of right now, we're proceeding in a way that's positive, toward a positive goal, as opposed to avoiding a negative consequence," he said. “We're really hopeful that this momentum can continue and we can get the jail safe as quickly as possible.”
The county's main jail has long been plagued by problems, and Labat, who was reelected in November, has been calling for the construction of an expensive new jail since taking office in January 2021. A lengthy report released in November that details the Justice Department findings said that although Labat and other county leaders were aware of the problems and have spoken publicly spoken about them, “they have failed to take adequate action to address the crisis.”
When the Justice Department announced its findings in November, Labat and county Board of Commissioners Chairman Robb Pitts said they had already been working to address structural and programming concerns at the jail.
In a statement released Friday, Pitts said the county will continue its work to improve the jail. He noted that the board had already committed to investing up to $300 million for improvements.
The report detailed a “crisis of violence," including stabbings, sexual assaults and killings. It also said vulnerable populations, including people who are gay, transgender, young or who have serious mental illness, were particularly at risk from the violence, which causes physical injury and long-lasting trauma.
Jail officers do not receive adequate training and guidance on the use of of force and were found to engage in "a pattern or practice of using excessive force” against people in county custody, the report said.
Fulton County has a main jail and three annexes, and investigators found that the main jail is hazardous and unsanitary, citing flooding from broken toilets and sinks, infestations of cockroaches and rodents, and filthy cells with dangerous exposed wires. There isn’t enough food for detainees and the distribution services are unsanitary, exposing detainees to pest infestation, malnourishment and other harms, the report said.
People held in Fulton County custody receive inadequate medical and mental health care in violation of their constitutional rights, leaving them open to risk of injury, serious illness, pain and suffering, mental health decline and death, investigators found.
When the Justice Department launched its investigation, officials cited the September 2022 death of 35-year-old Lashawn Thompson in a bedbug-infested cell in the main jail’s psychiatric wing, noting that an independent autopsy conducted at his family’s request found that he died of severe neglect. Photos released by attorneys for Thompson’s family showed that his body was covered in insects and that his cell was filthy and full of garbage.
Michael Collins, senior director of racial justice organization Color of Change, has been vocal about the problems at the jail and critical of Labat. He said Friday that he applauds the Justice Department's actions but that he's hesitant to be too hopeful as long as the sheriff is involved.
“He's definitely part of the problem,” Collins said of Labat. “I think what remains to be seen is how much can the Department of Justice implement the changes they want to implement, which we agree with, with the sheriff there.”
FILE - Vehicles are parked outside the Fulton County Jail, April 11, 2023, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Kate Brumback, File)
BANGKOK (AP) — Sweeping new tariffs announced Wednesday by U.S. President Donald Trump provoked dismay, threats of countermeasures and calls for further negotiations to make trade rules fairer.
But responses were measured, highlighting a lack of appetite among key trading partners for an outright trade war with the world's biggest economy.
Trump said the import taxes, ranging from 10% to 49%, would do to U.S. trading partners what they have long done to the U.S. He maintains they will draw factories and jobs back to the United States.
“Taxpayers have been ripped off for more than 50 years,” he said. “But it is not going to happen anymore.”
Trump's announcement of a new 20% tariff on the European Union drew a sharp rebuke from European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who said it was a “major blow to the world economy.”
“The consequences will be dire for millions of people around the globe,” von der Leyen said. Groceries, transport and medicines will cost more, she said while visiting Uzbekistan, “And this is hurting, in particular, the most vulnerable citizens.”
Von der Leyen acknowledged that the world trading system has “serious deficiencies” and said the EU was ready to negotiate with the U.S. but also was prepared to respond with countermeasures.
British Prime Minister Kier Starmer said the U.K. government would react with “cool and calm heads.”
“Clearly, there will be an economic impact,” he said, telling business leaders in London that he hopes to get the tariffs lifted with a trade deal with Washington.
“Nobody wins in a trade war, that is not in our national interest,” Starmer said.
Japan, America's closest ally in Asia, plans to closely analyze the U.S. tariffs and their impact, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said, while refraining from talk of retaliation. But he said the moves would have a big impact on relations with the U.S.
Italy’s conservative Premier Giorgia Meloni said the higher tariffs would benefit neither side.
“We will do everything we can to work towards an agreement with the United States, with the aim of avoiding a trade war that would inevitably weaken the West in favor of other global players,” Meloni said in a Facebook post.
Brazil, hit with a 10% tariff, said it was considering appealing to the World Trade Organization. Its congress unanimously passed a bill to allow retaliation for any tariffs on Brazilian goods.
Financial markets were jolted, with U.S. stock futures down by as much as 3% early Thursday and a 2.8% drop in Tokyo’s benchmark leading losses in Asia. Oil prices sank more than $2 a barrel.
“The magnitude of the rollout — both in scale and speed — wasn’t just aggressive; it was a full-throttle macro disruption,” Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management said in a commentary.
While the longer-term ramifications could encompass a dismantling of supply chains built up over decades, a more immediate concern is the higher risk of recession.
“The (average) U.S. tariff rate on all imports is now around 22%, from 2.5% in 2024. That rate was last seen around 1910," Olu Sonola, Fitch Ratings’ head of U.S. Economic Research, said in a report.
"This is a game changer, not only for the U.S. economy but for the global economy. Many countries will likely end up in a recession. You can throw most forecasts out the door, if this tariff rate stays on for an extended period of time,” Sonola said.
The burden falls heaviest on Asia-Pacific nations, with the highest tariffs for impoverished, financially precarious countries like Laos at a 48% tariff, Cambodia at 49% and Myanmar at 44%.
Asian countries that are among the biggest exporters to the U.S. pledged to act fast to support automakers and other businesses likely to be affected.
South Korean Prime Minister Han Duck-soo told officials to work with business groups to analyze the impact of the new 25% tariff to “minimize damage,” the trade ministry said.
China's commerce ministry said Beijing would “resolutely take countermeasures to safeguard its own rights and interests,” without saying exactly what it might do. With earlier rounds of tariffs China reacted by imposing higher duties on U.S. exports of farm products, while limiting exports of minerals used for high-tech industries such as electric vehicles.
“China urges the United States to immediately cancel its unilateral tariff measures and properly resolve differences with its trading partners through equal dialogue,” it said.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said she would wait to see how Trump’s announcement will affect Mexico, which like Canada was spared for goods already qualified under their free trade agreement with the United States, though previously announced 25% tariffs on auto imports took effect Thursday.
“It’s not a question of if you impose tariffs on me, I’m going to impose tariffs on you,” she said Wednesday morning. “Our interest is in strengthening the Mexican economy.”
Canada had imposed retaliatory tariffs in response to the 25% tariffs that Trump tied to the trafficking of fentanyl. The European Union, in response to the steel and aluminum tariffs, has imposed taxes on 26 billion euros’ worth ($28 billion) of U.S. goods, including bourbon, prompting Trump to threaten a 200% tariff on European alcohol.
Some countries took issue with the White House's calculations.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the tariffs were totally unwarranted, but Australia will not retaliate.
“President Trump referred to reciprocal tariffs. A reciprocal tariff would be zero, not 10%,” said Albanese. The U.S. and Australia have a free trade agreement and the U.S. has a $2-to-$1 trade surplus with Australia. “This is not the act of a friend.”
Trump said the United States bought $3 billion of Australian beef last year, but Australia would not accept U.S. beef imports. Albanese said the ban on raw U.S. beef was for biosecurity reasons.
A 29% tariff imposed on the tiny South Pacific outpost of Norfolk Island came as a shock. The Australian territory has a population of around 2,000 people and the economy revolves around tourism.
“To my knowledge, we do not export anything to the United States,” Norfolk Island Administrator George Plant, the Australian government’s representative on the island, told the AP Thursday. “We don’t charge tariffs on anything. I can’t think of any non-tariff barriers that would be in place either, so we’re scratching our heads here.”
“We don’t have a 20% tariff rate,” said New Zealand's Trade Minister Todd McClay. But he said New Zealand did not intend to retaliate. "That would put up prices on New Zealand consumers and it would be inflationary,” he said.
As Trump read the list of countries that would be targeted, he repeatedly said he didn’t blame them for the trade barriers they imposed to protect their own nations’ businesses. “But we’re doing the same thing right now,” he said.
“In the face of unrelenting economic warfare, the United States can no longer continue with a policy of unilateral economic surrender,” Trump said.
Speaking from a business forum in India, Chilean President Gabriel Boric warned that such measures challenge “principles that govern international trade.”
Colombian President Gustavo Petro, who has clashed with Trump before, said via X that the tariffs marked a milestone: “Today the neoliberalism that proclaimed free-trade policies all over the world has died.”
Analysts say there’s little to be gained from an all-out trade war, for the United States or other countries.
“If Trump really imposes high tariffs, Europe will have to respond, but the paradox is that the EU would be better off doing nothing,” said Matteo Villa, a senior analyst at Italy’s Institute for International Political Studies.
“On the other hand, Trump seems to understand only the language of force, and this indicates the need for a strong and immediate response,” Villa said. “Probably the hope, in Brussels, is that the response will be strong enough to induce Trump to negotiate and, soon, to backtrack.”
AP journalists around the world contributed to this story.
People walk past an electronic stock board showing the day's early loss of Japan's Nikkei 225 index at a securities firm Thursday, April 3, 2025 in Tokyo.(AP Photo/Shuji Kajiyama)
U.S. President Donald Trump is seen on a screen as currency traders work at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
Containers are stacked at the Port of Los Angeles Wednesday, April 2, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
Cranes and shipping containers are seen at a port in Pyeongtaek, South Korea, Wednesday, April 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
Employee Jon Vazquez-DeAnda cuts keys for a customer at employee-owned Devon Hardware, Wednesday, April 2, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
This photo shows vehicles bound for foreign countries at a logistics center in Kawasaki near Tokyo, Thursday, March 27, 2025. (Michi Ono/Kyodo News via AP)
President Donald Trump departs after signing an executive order at an event to announce new tariffs in the Rose Garden of the White House, Wednesday, April 2, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
President Donald Trump speaks during an event to announce new tariffs in the Rose Garden at the White House, Wednesday, April 2, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
President Donald Trump speaks during an event to announce new tariffs in the Rose Garden of the White House, Wednesday, April 2, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
President Donald Trump holds a signed executive order during an event to announce new tariffs in the Rose Garden of the White House, Wednesday, April 2, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
President Donald Trump speaks during an event to announce new tariffs in the Rose Garden at the White House, Wednesday, April 2, 2025, in Washington, as Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick listens. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
