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It’s been half a year since @southerncenter & @ACLU filed suit against the Clayton County Sheriff & others for allowing COVID-19 to spread throughout the Clayton County Jail. I want to update on how horrific the situation remains.
Last week, we had a preliminary injunction hearing. We have incredibly brave witnesses who are incarcerated at the jail & risking great personal harm in sharing their stories. Some have already faced retaliation at the jail. I want to share one particularly chilling declaration.
This man had to endure witnessing another detainee, SS, grow weaker & weaker as his symptoms worsened. He heard SS’s calls for help go ignored. A terrible smell began to emanate from the cell. Eventually, he found SS dead in his cell, sitting up with his back to the sink.
It’s hard to encapsulate just how bad things are at the Clayton County Jail. The only way to report symptoms or request help is through kiosks, which break regularly. After our inspection of the jail detainees were put on ‘Nutraloaf’ as a punishment, and locked down for a week.
This woman (who has MS) was put on suicide watch and strapped into a restraint chair. Her paper gown ripped, exposing her to all the staff. When she was returned to general population, no one had masks. She was not given one. Again — she has Multiple Sclerosis.
More lockdown.
“One brandished a bean bag gun at me and said ‘if you look at me, I’m going to shoot you.’”
“The officers told us that visitation is a privilege, mail is a privilege, & it’s a privilege to come out of our cells.”
“One brandished a bean bag gun at me and said ‘if you look at me, I’m going to shoot you.’”
“The officers told us that visitation is a privilege, mail is a privilege, & it’s a privilege to come out of our cells.”
This woman began experiencing severe COVID symptoms — it took a long time to get anyone’s attention; she was taken to medical & confirmed to be having a heart attack. After 48 hours she was returned to general pop, likely contagious. She was never tested, like most with symptoms
There are hundreds of pages of these declarations collected by my colleagues. They are all as horrifying as the last. This man’s former cellmate had covid symptoms. When he then developed symptoms, he was unable to put in a medical request due to the lockdown.
Lastly -- if you live in Clayton County, please reach out to your lawmakers to make sure they're aware of what's going on in their county's jail
