Donald Trump and the 18 other suspects charged over an alleged conspiracy to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia are set to booked into a notorious Fulton County jail where several inmates have died in recent years.
The former president and his co-defendants in Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis' expansive election interference probe have been given a deadline of August 25 to surrender to face the charges against them.
Fulton County Sheriff's Office spokesperson Natalie Ammons said that they "expect" all 19 defendants to be booked at the Fulton County Jail in Atlanta but warned "circumstances may change," according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Trump's office has been contacted for comment via email.
Trump and the other defendants have not indicated when or if they intend to voluntarily surrender to authorities after getting indicted in Willis' probe. Trump, the frontrunner in the 2024 GOP presidential primary, has denied all the allegations against him, and accused Willis of "election interference" and her probe of being a politically motivated "witch hunt."
The Rice Street jail in which Trump and the other suspects are expected to be booked is infamous for its squalid conditions and overcrowding, and was placed under a federal investigation in July for its "structurally unsafe" environment and outbreaks of violence. Fulton County officials and the Fulton County Sheriff's office said they would cooperate fully with the inquiry.
In September 2022, there was national outrage after one inmate held at the jail, Lashawn Thompson, was found dead on the floor with his body infested with lice and bed bugs.
In May 2023, the family of Thompson, who was imprisoned at the jail after he was unable to pay $2,500 bail for a misdemeanor charge, released the results of an independent autopsy which suggested other factors which led to the inmate's death included dehydration, malnutrition and a failure to treat his schizophrenia.
Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who is representing the family, described Thompson's death at the Fulton County jail as "one of the most deplorable in-custody deaths in the history of America."
Two months after Thompson's death, the Southern Center for Human Rights released a damning report on the conditions of the prison, noting how at least 10 people died at the facility in the first 11 months of 2022.
"The Fulton County Jail located at 901 Rice Street is dangerously understaffed and overcrowded. The packed, unhygienic living conditions are dangerous on a number of levels, easily facilitating the spread of viruses like COVID-19 or parasitic outbreaks," the group said in a statement.
Following an outbreak of parasites at the prison, an assessment found that 100 percent of the inmates held in one unit in September 2022 either had lice, scabies or both, and that 90 percent of inmates held in a unit for people diagnosed with mental illnesses were "significantly" malnourished.
Terrica Ganzy, executive director of the Southern Center for Human Rights, described the conditions of the jail as a "public health nightmare."
"The fact that people held in the custody of Fulton County are so malnourished and ill that they are experiencing muscle wasting commonly seen in people with late stage cancers is horrifying," Ganzy said.
The Southern Center for Human Rights also highlighted staffing issues at the jail, noting that there were at least 155 vacancies at the time of the report's release.
Another report released in September 2022 from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) states that the prison is overcrowded and houses hundreds of people for months who have not yet been charged as they were unable to pay the bail for release.
"It's essentially been overcrowded since it was built," Fallon McClure of the ACLU of Georgia told the BBC. "This has just been a perpetual cycle over and over for years."
While some details about Trump's booking process are unclear, the former president will likely bypass the issues facing the Fulton County Jail during an arraignment. Trump is expected to be released on bail after he is charged, as the high-profile suspect will likely not be considered a flight risk, nor is he accused of violent crimes.
Fulton County Sheriff Pat Labat said Trump will be treated like any other suspect during his arraignment, including having his mugshot taken.
Georgia State University College of Law professor Anthony Michael Kreis previously warned about the conditions at the Rice Street jail amid suggestions that the former president may not be granted bail in the Georgia case.
"I wouldn't wish the conditions in the Fulton County jail on my worst enemy. If you think that making jokes about jail in Atlanta is all well and good because Donald Trump is the butt of them, you may wish to stop and inform yourself of the inhumane ways people have died there," Kreis posted on X, formerly Twitter.
"I can assure you there's nothing humorous about it. Nothing."
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Ewan Palmer is a Newsweek News Reporter based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on US politics, domestic policy ... Read more
