The department also announced limits on federal officers’ use of widely criticized policing tactics.
The Justice Department has opened an investigation into allegations of unconstitutional abuses of prisoners in Georgia, a sweeping civil rights inquiry that could force the state to carry out a federally mandated overhaul. The department also separately limited whether and how federal law enforcement officers can use tactics that have been widely criticized for their role in the deaths of Black people at the hands of the local police, including neck restraints like chokeholds and unannounced searches for evidence. The moves, announced on Tuesday, broadly address issues of violence in law enforcement and incarceration that have become a rallying point for criminal justice advocates and led to protests and civil unrest around the country. The Georgia investigation was prompted by documentation of violence in prisons across the state. During a riot last year at Ware State Prison that played out on social media, hundreds of inmates took over the building, set fires and took guards hostage, resulting in damage and myriad injuries. At least 26 people died in 2020 by confirmed or suspected homicide in Georgia prisons, and 18 homicides, as well as numerous stabbings and beatings, have been reported this year. “Under the Eighth Amendment of our Constitution, those who have been convicted of crimes and sentenced to serve time in prison must never be subjected to ‘cruel and unusual punishments,’” Kristen Clarke, the head of the Justice Department’s civil rights division, said in announcing the investigation during a virtual news conference. Ms. Clarke said that dangerous conditions in the state’s prisons, including “contraband weapons and open gang activity,” seemed to be exacerbated by many systemic factors. She cited staffing shortages and high employee turnover, policy and training issues and a lack of accountability for misconduct.
