Media Contact: Kathryn Hamoudah 404/688-1202 or [email protected]

Atlanta, GA—The Southern Center for Human Rights (SCHR) released The People’s Report in April 2025 as the culmination of the initial phase of The People’s Process, a community-centered initiative modeled after international human rights input mechanisms as a response to Fulton County’s refusal to engage the public on the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) damning findings concerning the unconstitutional and inhumane conditions at the Fulton County jail “Rice Street” under Sheriff Patrick Labat and resultant Consent Decree.

In response to the Fulton County Board of Commissioners’ proposal to spend over one billion dollars to renovate the Rice Street Jail after constructing a new jail to hold people living with mental illness, we urge the Fulton County Board of Commissioners to engage the public prior to voting on such a consequential piece of legislation. As we saw through The People’s Process, the public prioritized cultural shifts, diversion, reducing the jail population, addressing violence by corrections officers, and ending solitary confinement over new buildings. Instead of heeding community wisdom, this proposal would be a vehicle for Fulton County to build a new facility while delaying or even abandoning meaningful action in Rice Street.

The plan—which would build a new jail before renovating Rice Street—would increase Fulton County’s carceral footprint while leaving the many people in their custody to continue to live in jails riddled with human rights violations. Fulton County Sheriff Patrick Labat and those under his supervision have failed to afford the most basic care to people with mental illness in Fulton County jails. Any new facility would take years to build. The narrow fixation on new construction while not directing equal financial resources to immediate care may very well worsen matters for those who need services most.

SCHR has filed four lawsuits concerning the inhumane conditions at the Fulton County jail over the span of more than 30 years:  Stinson v. Fulton County Bd. of Comm, Foster v. Fulton County, Harper v. Fulton County, Georgia, and Georgia Advocacy Office. v. Labat.

The People’s Process will continue to ensure public input concerning the jail. More information can be found at www.schr.org/peoplesprocess. 

The People’s Process partners include Women on the Rise Georgia, Atlanta Community Support Project, Southern Poverty Law Center, All of Us or None Atlanta, Legal Action Center, Color of Change, Stop Criminalization of Our Patients, Color of Change, the Multifaith Initiative to End Mass Incarceration, and Professor Justin Hansford of the United Nations Permanent Forum on People of African Descent.