Case: DOJ Investigation of Georgia Prisons

This is a case about conditions in Georgia's prisons. On August 5, 2021, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced it was opening a statewide civil investigation into conditions of confinement of people incarcerated in Georgia’s prisons. DOJ initiated the investigation under the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act (CRIPA), which authorizes DOJ to review conditions and practices within prisons and jails run by state or local governments. DOJ initiated the investigation to assess whether the Georgia Department of Corrections (GDC) provides prisoners reasonable protection from physical harm at the hands of other prisoners. DOJ also announced that it would continue its existing investigation (launched in 2016) into whether GDC provides lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) prisoners reasonable protection from sexual abuse by other prisoners and by staff. 

During DOJ’s investigation of GDC, DOJ visited 17 Georgia prisons, conducted hundreds of interviews with incarcerated persons, conducted dozens of interviews with GDC staff, and reviewed tens of thousands of records from GDC, other Georgia state agencies, and third-party entities. DOJ also issued expansive document requests and worked with four different expert consultants.

On October 1, 2024, DOJ released a report of its findings. DOJ made two primary findings: First, DOJ found that GDC fails to provide incarcerated persons housed within medium-security and high-security facilities with the constitutionally required minimum of reasonable physical safety. Second, DOJ found that GDC fails to provide LGBTI incarcerated persons reasonable protection from sexual abuse. Based on these findings, DOJ concluded that reasonable cause exists to believe that the State of Georgia and GDC violate the Eighth Amendment of the United States Constitution (prohibiting cruel and unusual punishment). DOJ’s specific findings included the following:

• GDC allows frequent, pervasive violence (including sexual violence) in its prisons, resulting in serious bodily harm and, in some cases, death. DOJ found that GDC incident reports—already documenting a longstanding pattern of serious violence inside the prisons—evidenced consistent underreporting and mischaracterizations of violent incidents.
• GDC inadequately staffs prisons, leaving incarcerated persons unsupervised and vulnerable to violence. DOJ found that GDC’s consistent failure to improve its “dire staffing problems” may amount to deliberate indifference to substantial harm in prisons, in violation of the Eighth Amendment.
• GDC prisons are unsafe due to (a) aging and inadequately maintained facilities, and (b) GDC’s failure to ensure adequate lock, tool, and key controls. DOJ found that the average GDC prison is over 30 years old and reaching “end of life”; because GDC does not adequately maintain its prisons, incarcerated people are able to manipulate damaged locks and security hardware.
• GDC’s classification and housing systems are ineffective, exposing incarcerated persons to an unreasonable risk of violence. Specifically, GDC does not conduct timely and accurate classification and segregation reviews, nor does GDC enforce classification housing assignments. Instead, GDC enables gangs and other incarcerated individuals to dictate housing assignments.
• GDC exposes incarcerated people threatened with physical harm to additional risk by placing those people in inadequately staffed and insecure segregated units. DOJ found GDC’s segregated units deficient in staffing, classification, and basic security measures—often endangering the very prisoners placed in segregated units for their own safety.
• GDC fails to control violent activity by gangs. Specifically, DOJ found that GDC fails to proactively respond to gang activity, enabling gangs to traffic dangerous contraband, exert undue influence over housing assignments, and control much of the prison system.
• GDC fails to control weapons, drugs, and other dangerous contraband in its prisons. DOJ found that the “sheer volume of contraband,” by itself, necessarily shows that GDC efforts to combat contraband have been insufficient.
• GDC fails to report and investigate serious incidents of harm and dangerous activities.
• GDC does not reasonably protect incarcerated individuals, including LGBTI individuals, from sexual harm. For the same reasons that GDC fails to protect incarcerated persons from physical violence generally, it also fails to protect their sexual safety. Despite LGBTI individuals’ disproportionate vulnerability to sexual abuse, GDC does not screen for risk of harm related to LGBTI status, nor does GDC classify or house LGBTI individuals appropriately to avoid risk of serious harm. And when LGTBI individuals are harmed, DOJ found that GDC “seldom takes appropriate remedial action.”

Given its findings, DOJ concluded that GDC is deliberately indifferent to the risk of harm to incarcerated persons, in violation of the Eighth Amendment. DOJ found that GDC was aware of “widespread” violence in its prisons, that GDC “has known for decades” of its serious staffing and security issues, and GDC “has been aware” of sexual abuse to LGBTI incarcerated people—but has failed to remedy these problems.

DOJ’s report recommends 82 remedial measures for GDC to implement, “at minimum.” The report recommends GDC implement immediate, short-term, and long-term measures addressing staffing, supervision, incident response, investigations, contraband, facility conditions, classification and housing, and sexual safety.

DOJ concluded its report by informing the State of Georgia that it hopes to work cooperatively with the state to reach a consensual resolution that remedies GDC’s violations; however, the United States Attorney General may initiate a lawsuit pursuant to CRIPA to correct GDC’s violations if Georgia officials do not satisfactorily address DOJ’s concerns.

As of February 22, 2025, DOJ and the State of Georgia have not reached a formal resolution to resolve GDC’s allegedly unlawful practices.