Justice Department calls Georgia prisons ‘inhumane,’ gangs, extortion rampant

Georgia’s state prisons are plagued with deadly violence, extortion, drug use and sexual abuse, according to a new report from the Justice Department. Attorneys for the federal government are now telling the state to take immediate steps to fix the problem or be sued. 

Investigators described the conditions in Georgia’s prisons as horrific and inhumane.

“People Georgia holds in its prisons people are assaulted, stabbed, raped and killed or left to languish inside facilities that are woefully understaffed,” Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke said. 

The findings are part of a state-wide civil rights investigation that dates back to 2021. At the time, federal officials said they were concerned about stabbings, beatings and other acts of violence. 

The investigators determined the confinement conditions in Georgia prisons violate the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution, which bars cruel and unusual punishment. 

The report also said gangs control multiple aspects of day-to-day life in the prisons including access to phones, showers, food and bed assignments. Investigators said they received credible allegations of beatings, coerced sex acts and extortion by gangs.

“Gang members have co-opted certain administrative functions like bed assignments from the Department of Corrections and they have extorted money from the family members of incarcerated people,” Ryan K. Buchanan, the U.S. Attorney Northern District of Georgia, said.

LGBTQ individuals are targeted for violence and the incidents are not properly investigated. There are even reports of torture.

“In America, time in prison should not be a sentence to death, torture or rape,” Assistant Attorney General Clarke said. “We can’t turn a blind eye to the wretched conditions and wanton violence unfolding in these institutions.”

Approximately 50,000 people are incarcerated in Georgia. That is the fourth highest prison population in the country, despite the state being the eighth most populous in the nation. Approximately 59% of the state’s prisoners are Black, compared to 31% of the overall state population.

“The people incarcerated in these jails and prisons are our neighbors, siblings, children, parents, family members and friends,” Clarke said. “The Constitution requires and public safety demands that our prisons provide safe living conditions for the people incarcerated them.” 

The Justice Department did not provide an exact timeline for when changes need to be made nor consequences for failures to make improvements. However, officials said the work needs to start immediately.