![]() ![]() Prisoners have documented what the Southern Center for Human Rights calls “inhumane conditions,” recording videos of brown water and inedible meals. ![]() The Georgia Department of Corrections has received increased scrutiny following reports by a human rights group detailing severe staff shortages and major increases in homicides and suicides. “The Legislature has an inherent subpoena power, but the majority has to exercise it,” McLaurin said, referring to the Republican Party. Josh McLaurin, a Sandy Springs Democrat who organized the Arrendale visit. In the meantime, there’s little that can be accomplished on the state level, said Rep. Department of Justice officials requesting federal intervention. There were 29 last year, according to the GDC, nearly triple 2017′s total and among the highest rates in the nation. In 2017, the GDC reported four homicides. Nearly 200 positions remain unfilled in the counseling, educational and food service fields, according to the agency.Īs staffing has gone down, incidents of violence inside Georgia’s prisons have risen. The GDC website lists 121 openings within Corrections for jobs including entry-level officers, deputy wardens and criminal investigators. Staff shortages are not just an Arrendale problem. “Now Hiring” signs surround the rural facility. The Southern Center alleges two-thirds of the prison’s staff positions remain unfilled. In her letter, the Arrendale prisoner also noted minimal officer presence. “We have seen vids of brown water from Macon State Prison and Autry.” “Likewise, other facilities also have water quality issues,” Burns said. Susan Burns, who founded They Have No Voice, said other prisoners have shared similar complaints about Arrendale’s water supply. Except the inmates that barely visited lockdown especially for extended stays, like me and a few others.” “I had lost an excessive amount of weight, and that there were not many other complaints because the other inmates knew to only drink water from the ice when it melts. “I told the doctor how the water had an atrocious smell, that I was not the only inmate with symptoms of diarrhea, nausea, and vomiting,” she wrote. She said she received no medical attention until the prison doctor made rounds three days later. Once in lockdown, the prisoner said she found herself growing increasingly ill. The AJC is not naming her due to fears of retribution by prison staff. The woman, serving 20 years on an armed robbery charge, said she was placed in lockdown after filing repeated grievances regarding stolen personal items. One Arrendale prisoner detailed her experiences in a letter provided to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution by They Have No Voice, a prison reform group. This is an emergency and requires immediate action.” “The severity of the crisis within all of Georgia’s prisons cannot be overstated. “Despite sending two letters clearly documenting human rights abuses occurring at Lee Arrendale State Prison, the Georgia Department of Corrections has failed to meaningfully respond, placing the lives of COVID-19 patients, postpartum mothers, and incarcerated women at grave risk,” said Jesse McGleughlin, a legal fellow with the Southern Center. Explore Georgia prisons 'beyond the crisis point' Department of Justice to investigate current conditions in each of the state’s 34 prisons. ”Meals are largely inedible and the prison’s water supply is brown and contaminated, according to the Southern Center, which has asked the U.S. “Chronic understaffing results in poor medical care, unchecked violence, and insufficient meal portions. “Women at Arrendale live in filthy cells with defective plumbing and electricity and receive limited access to cleaning and hygiene supplies,” the center said in a statement. According to the Southern Center for Human Rights, conditions inside Arrendale - located in Alto, a 90-minute drive from downtown Atlanta - are “horrific.” ![]()
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