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)
A blast of snow, ice, wind and plunging temperatures stirred up dangerous travel conditions in parts of the central U.S. on Sunday, as a disruptive winter storm brought the possibility of the “heaviest snowfall in a decade” to some areas.
Snow and ice blanketed major roadways in nearly all of Kansas, western Nebraska and parts of Indiana, where the state's National Guard was activated to help any motorists who were stuck. At least 8 inches of snow were expected, particularly north of Interstate 70, as the National Weather Service issued winter storm warnings for Kansas and Missouri, where blizzard conditions were reported. The warning extended to New Jersey for Monday and into early Tuesday.
“For locations in this region that receive the highest snow totals, it may be the heaviest snowfall in at least a decade,” the weather service said early Sunday.
About 63 million people in the U.S. were under some kind of winter weather advisory, watch or warning on Sunday, according to Bob Oravec with the National Weather Service.
The polar vortex of ultra-cold air usually spins around the North Pole. People in the U.S., Europe and Asia experience its intense cold when the vortex escapes and stretches south.
Studies show a fast-warming Arctic is partly to blame for the increasing frequency of the polar vortex extending its icy grip.
In Indiana, snow fully covered portions of Interstate 64, Interstate 69 and U.S. Route 41, prompting Indiana State Police to plead with motorists to stay off the roads as plows worked to keep up with the pace of the precipitation.
“It’s snowing so hard, the snow plows go through and then within a half hour the roadways are completely covered again,” Sgt. Todd Ringle said.
Part of I-70 was closed in central Kansas by Saturday afternoon. Roughly 10 inches (25 centimeters) of snow had fallen in parts of the state, with snow and sleet totals predicted to top 14 inches for parts of Kansas and northern Missouri.
Parts of upstate New York saw 3 feet (0.9 meters) or more of snow from a lake effect event expected to last until late Sunday afternoon.
The storm was then forecast to move into the Ohio Valley and reach the Mid-Atlantic states on Sunday and Monday, with a hard freeze expected as far south as Florida.
The National Weather Service warned that travel in numerous states, including Kansas and Missouri, could be “very difficult to impossible.”
Indiana State Police reported a handful of spinouts and crashes Sunday.
A day earlier a fire truck, several tractor-trailers and passenger vehicles overturned west of Salina. Rigs also jackknifed and went into ditches, state Highway Patrol Trooper Ben Gardner said. He posted a video showing his boots sliding across the highway blacktop like he was on ice skates. He begged people to stay off the roads.
Governors in neighboring Missouri and nearby Arkansas declared states of emergency.
The storms also caused havoc for the nation’s railways, leading to cancelations. Amtrak said in a statement that “adjustments have been made with no alternative transportation being offered” for many rail lines.
More than 20 cancelations were predicted on Sunday and more than 40 were planned for Monday.
The cancelations affected many parts of the country, but the Midwest was hit especially hard. A train between Chicago and New York and several regional trains between Chicago and St. Louis were among those canceled Sunday.
Nearly 200 flights in and out of St. Louis Lambert International Airport were canceled, according to tracking platform FlightAware.
Starting Monday, the eastern two-thirds of the country will experience dangerous, bone-chilling cold and wind chills, forecasters said. Temperatures could be 12 to 25 degrees (7 to 14 degrees Celsius) below normal.
In Chicago on Sunday, temperatures hovered in the teens (minus 7 to 10 Celsius) and around zero in Minneapolis, while dropping to 11 below in International Falls, Minnesota, on the Canadian border.
The Northeastern states are more likely to experience several days of cold following what has mostly been a mild start to winter, said Jon Palmer, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Gray, Maine. A plume of cold air coming down from Canada is likely to result in a cold but dry week, he said.
The cold air will likely grip the eastern half of the country as far south as Georgia, Palmer said, with parts of the East Coast experiencing freezing temperatures and lows dipping into the single digits in some areas.
Wind might also pick up as the week gets going, making for potentially dangerous conditions for people exposed to the elements for long periods of time, Palmer said.
The National Weather Service predicted 8 to 12 inches (about 20 to 30 centimeters) of snow for the Annapolis, Maryland, area, with temperatures remaining below freezing throughout the weekend.
In a statement on X, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin declared a state of emergency Friday evening ahead of the storm and encouraged residents to vote before the state's special elections on Tuesday.
Similar declarations were issued in Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland and in central Illinois cities.
“This is the real deal,” meteorologist John Gordon said at a press conference in Louisville, Kentucky. “Are the weather people blowing this out of proportion? No.”
Read more of AP’s climate coverage at http://www.apnews.com/climate-and-environment
Associated Press journalists Julie Walker in New York, Sophia Tareen in Chicago and Summer Ballentine in Columbia, Missouri, contributed. Witte reported from Annapolis, Maryland. Whittle reported from Portland, Maine.
Snow falls in St. Joseph, Mo., Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Nick Ingram)
More snow falls near the American Legion Post in Lowville, N.Y., Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Cara Anna)
FILE - A leaf is frozen in the ice of a garden pond during cold weather in Buffalo Grove, Ill., Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh, File)
FILE - Steve Beckett with the street department in Owensboro, Ky., sprays a salt brine solution along Hickman Avenue in preparation for predicted snow and ice over the weekend, Friday, Jan. 3, 2025, in Owensboro, Ky. (Greg Eans/The Messenger-Inquirer via AP, File)
More winter weather blows into Lowville, New York on Saturday, January 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Cara Anna)
In a photo released by the Kansas Highway Patrol, a car is wedged between two trucks during icy weather Saturday, Jan. 4, 2024, in Salina, Kansas. (Kansas Highway Patrol via AP)
A snowplow passes through Lowville, New York, on Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Cara Anna)
