Former federal prosecutors Francey Hakes and Jay Town are urging Attorney General Merrick Garland to close the Fulton County jail in Georgia following the fifth death of an inmate there since July 31. The Department of Justice had previously opened an investigation into the facility after allegations of unsanitary conditions, violence, and excessive force. Hakes and Town argue that these conditions violate the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment for prisoners. They suggest that the DOJ should seek an immediate injunction to have all inmates removed from the jail and placed in other facilities. They also speculate that Garland’s hesitation to take action may be due to the pending criminal trial of former President Donald Trump and his co-defendants in Fulton County.
