"Where Justice Goes to Die: A Country's Dirty Little Secret"

"Where Justice Goes to Die: A Country's Dirty Little Secret" 

Picture a detention facility where individuals are subjected to the most dehumanizing conditions imaginable—with overcrowded cells, rampant violence, little to no medical care, and a complete lack of basic sanitary conditions. One where inmates are forced to endure squalor and fear daily, with little recourse to justice or humane treatment. Are you imagining a war-torn country or a failed state where the rule of law is nonexistent?

I recently read a report investigating a detention facility that provoked a visceral reaction unlike any I've experienced while reading countless others. Eyewitness accounts describe scenes of brutality and neglect, where the strong prey on the weak, and the mentally ill and disabled are left to fend for themselves. Sexual and physical abuse at the hands of both staff and inmates goes intentionally unreported. The floors are stained from brutal battles of survival, and the sounds of inmates screaming echo throughout the cells. One former inmate described the facility as a place where hope is extinguished, and humanity is forgotten.

The broader implications of these findings are deeply troubling, and the existence of such a facility raises significant questions about crimes against humanity. The systemic issues highlighted in this report are not isolated incidents but indicative of a widespread problem, where resources are scarce, oversight is lax, and accountability is virtually nonexistent.

You might be thinking, "I'm a law-abiding, productive citizen; why should I care about a bunch of criminals?" Because in the country where this facility is located, innocence isn't a guarantee that you won't be arrested, arraigned, convicted, imprisoned, and forgotten. Consider this: Data reveals that, on average, 5% of their prison population is innocent. Would you be willing to take those odds?

This statistic underscores the catastrophic human cost of a flawed system that not only fails to protect the innocent but also subjects them to inhumane conditions once wrongly incarcerated. The fact that, in that country, 3,630 people have been exonerated since 1989 is both a testament to the resilience of those wrongfully convicted and an indictment of a system that fails too often.

Perhaps even more troubling is the fact that most of the individuals held in this jail have not even been convicted of a crime. They are awaiting trial, often for more than a year, with one even languishing for over a decade, unable to afford bail or bond. Only 2% of the inmates are actually serving time for criminal sentences. This is not a prison for convicted criminals; it is a holding tank where presumed innocence has no meaning and it's a crime to be poor. Imagine being innocent and being trapped in this hell on earth. Some even call it, "The place where justice goes to die."

Adding to this grim reality, there are approximately 195,000 new convictions annually. Given the wrongful conviction rate of 5% (or 1 in every 20 convictions), this translates to about 9,750 wrongful convictions annually, averaging a staggering 26 wrongful convictions every single day. Current data cites the highest number of people exonerated in a single year was 233, which occurred in 2022. If, out of the 9,750 innocent people convicted each year, only 233, at best, are exonerated, then over 9,500 innocent victims are created every year; their lives shattered and they remain behind bars with little to no hope of ever being freed. The causes of wrongful convictions are multifaceted, with eyewitness misidentification accounting for 69% of cases, false confessions for 29%, and official misconduct for 31% of murder exonerations. These figures highlight the critical need for comprehensive reform, not the least of which is prosecuting prosecutorial misconduct for the crime that it is.

Prepare yourself for a shocking revelation: this jail is not located in a distant, third-world country. It exists in the heart of one of the most developed and supposed just nations in the world—the United States; and this report was published by the United States Department of Justice Civil Rights and Division U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Georgia. Specifically, it is the infamous Fulton County Jail in Atlanta, which has been the subject of numerous investigations and reports due to its deplorable conditions and the tragic death of an inmate from an insect infestation and malnutrition that rocked the nation. According to the report:

"In September 2022, Lashawn Thompson died alone in a filthy cell in the mental health unit of the Fulton County Jail. Mr. Thompson, who had a history of mental illness, was accused of spitting at a Georgia Tech police officer and arrested on a simple battery charge, then held on an old warrant. Three months after his arrest, Mr. Thompson was found in his cell, slumped over with his head on his toilet. A medical examiner reported that his malnourished body was infested with an 'enormous presence of body lice,' and concluded that he was 'neglected to death.'" ("Fulton County Jail Findings Report - United States Department of Justice") That fact that the medical examiner used the term 'neglected to death' and not died of neglect, speaks volumes. 

Not that Mr. Thompson was the only death to occur in this literal cesspool. Unfortunately, I can't quote a specific number because I lost track of the fatalities they documented somewhere in the middle of reading this startling report. But what I can tell you is that what they found can only be described as excessively cruel and beyond unusual punishment. The crimes committed against these detainees included tasing too often and to excess. They found that "Jail officers use Tasers quickly and in multiple cycles without consideration for the risk of harm. Taser use is so common that individual officers sometimes tase multiple people in a day." According to one detainee, they were like 'toddlers with toys.' Additionally, the inmates were subjected to "killings, stabbings, and assaults." The report cited the facility for failing to protect the vulnerable population (which includes seventeen-year-olds) prolonged stints in solitary confinement causing irreparable damage, and failure to maintain the infrastructure, including security doors, which "threatens the lives of the incarcerated." Furthermore, they added, "The Jail has allowed housing areas to fall into a state of serious disrepair, with standing water collecting in living areas, exposed wires, pests poorly controlled, and deficient services for providing clean clothing and sheets. These conditions are dangerous and unsanitary. Meals are served to the incarcerated population in an unsanitary manner and do not meet nutritional standards ("Fulton County Jail Findings Report - United States Department of Justice"). Most inmates were not even provided the proverbial "three hots and a cot". As a result, people in the jail have suffered bodily injuries from pest infestation and malnourishment.

One cannot overstate the urgent need for corruption and abuse in this facility to be eradicated. The dehumanizing conditions and rampant injustices documented in this report are a stark reminder of the failings of their current system—if, under the circumstances, it could be considered a system at all. These issues must be addressed head-on, with a focus on protecting the rights and dignity of detainees and preventing such atrocities from occurring in the future. This was also the sentiment of the United Nations when they cited the United States with human rights violations because of the deplorable conditions of its prison system. As a matter of record, the United Nations has cited the United States for human rights violations related to its prison system on multiple occasions. One notable instance was in a report published on September 28, 2023, by U.N. human rights experts. This report condemned systemic racism in the U.S. criminal justice system and described appalling prison conditions, including forced unpaid convict labor, which was referred to as a "contemporary form of slavery."

The report published by the United States Department of Justice Civil Rights also disclosed that funds collected from detainees and their families for phone calls and items such as food and clothing—which, according to County law, were to be used for the benefit of the inmates—were instead used by employees for "Honey Baked Ham gift cards and a bounce house rental." While this is arguably not on the same horrendous level as sexual and physical abuse, it still carries significant weight. Consider the case of one mother who had to take a second job at age 72 so she could afford to send her innocent son funds for commissary, which he then traded for protection—his only defense against the violent gang population. His other option? Plead guilty to a crime he didn't commit, which is what the government would have him believe is in his best interest. It's nothing more than a Hobson's choice. A critical point to keep in mind: once a guilty plea is entered, there's no going back. No appeals, no do-overs. It's simply a way for the legal system to bypass the cost of a trial and dismiss the case with as little work, and justice, as possible. This illustrates how even seemingly minor acts of corruption can have devastating ripple effects. How many impoverished innocent people do you suppose will take the offered path of a guilty plea to forego such horrific conditions and treatment?

And this facility is not an outlier. Rikers Island, another notorious county holding tank, is iconic for corruption, neglect, and unspeakable abuse by both inmates and staff. To be sure, the two facilities named are merely examples and not exceptions to the rule. The majority of major metropolitan detention centers are infamous for their dehumanizing conditions and lack of accountability, which together form a harrowing picture of systemic failure.

So the next time you're asked to do your part in preventing wrongful convictions and you think it doesn't affect you— imagine yourself, your loved one, your son or daughter, being arrested and detained for a crime they had nothing to do with, then transported to a detention center known for human rights violations and forced to suffer the indignities and atrocities outlined in this article and subsequent report.

Three months after his arrest, Mr. Thompson was found in his cell, slumped over with his head on his toilet. A medical examiner reported that his malnourished body was infested with an 'enormous presence of body lice,' and concluded that he was 'neglected to death.'