Criminal justice advocates say they want the paper called up and put to a vote on Monday so the council and mayor can fulfill their pledges to repurpose the building.
Thanks to Ben Gray
Thanks to Ben Gray
During a press conference outside the city jail facility on Tuesday, Devin Franklin of the Southern Center for Human Rights stated, “This coalition’s demand to the City Council is straightforward: we demand that they keep their word.” We think Mayor Andre Dickens committed to working toward a plan to reimagine the facility.
And we’re requesting that he honor his promise.
When Dickens took office, he backed the notion of turning the building into a community center and said he did not want to lease the 700 beds in the facility to Fulton County for any longer than the four-year period.
At the time, he stated, “We are not in the jailing business, and I do not want to be in the jailing business for long.” That’s my own constitution.
Since then, he has thwarted Fulton officials’ attempts to acquire the facility.
According to a statement from the mayor’s spokeswoman, the city and Fulton County signed an agreement to assist in resolving the humanitarian issue in the county’s prisons.
According to the mayor’s office, we will adhere to the conditions of the agreement. Accelerating efforts to generate economic opportunities for all Atlanta citizens, regardless of zip code, is the best way for the City to help alleviate the County jail’s long-term overcrowding.
Thanks to TNS
Thanks to TNS
Fulton officials justified the use of Atlanta’s detention facility beds by pointing to the overpopulation at the Fulton County Jail on Rice Street. However, the circumstances at the county jail are notoriously harsh.
According to a 2024 Department of Justice investigation, the county and its sheriff had permitted reprehensible, unlawful circumstances, which violated the detainees’ civil rights.
The investigation began soon after Lashawn Thompson’s death, which the autopsy determined was caused by extreme negligence. He was photographed in a trash-filled cell, coated in insects.
According to the resolution, which Council member Antonio Lewis introduced, the county’s lease of space at the Atlanta City Detention Center does not remedy any of the infractions listed by the DOJ.
According to the resolution, the county’s use of the city facility’s beds actually exposes the city to possible liabilities and permits the ongoing export of those damages to Atlanta.
According to the resolution, since December 2022, over 15 persons have passed away while in the custody of the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office.
Over 60 inmates died at Fulton’s jail between 2009 and October 2022, the most of any Georgia jail over that period, according to an Atlanta Journal-Constitution analysis. In 2023, ten additional prisoners lost their lives while in county custody.
Riley Bunch, [email protected], is credited.
Riley Bunch, [email protected], is credited.
In order to alleviate jail overcrowding, the advocates highlight the underutilization of Fulton County’s expensive new Center for Diversion & Services, which links homeless individuals with substance use or mental health disorders to services and treatment.
Judge Robert McBurney of Fulton County Superior Court previously informed county commissioners that, between January and May 31, police officers brought in an average of three individuals daily to the diversion center.
Since then, those numbers have increased. According to new data from Grady Memorial Hospital, 174 patients were redirected to the center in June, which is the largest amount since it opened and a 36% rise from the previous month.
However, diversions fall short of the center’s promise, according to Dr. Mark Spencer, executive director of Stop Criminalization Of Our Patients and an internal medicine physician in Atlanta.
According to Spencer, the city and police have failed to embrace diversion. We have neglected our duty to provide for the most vulnerable.
Reed Williams, a staff reporter, helped with this story.
