State Senator Responds to DOJ Report on Constitutional Violations in Georgia Prisons – WABE

The U.S. Department of Justice has released a new report after a year-long investigation into Georgia's state prison system. According to the 93-page report, conditions in Georgia's state and private correctional facilities violate the Eighth Amendment.

Justice Department officials say inmates are assaulted, raped, stabbed and, in some cases, killed while held in unsafe and understaffed facilities.

Georgia has the fourth largest prison population. It is estimated that almost 50,000 people are currently incarcerated in one of Georgia's prisons.

On Wednesday's edition of Closer Look, Georgia state Sen. Randy Robertson, a retired police officer and chairman of the Senate Public Safety Subcommittee on the Fulton County Jail, responded to the report's findings.

Robertson told host Rose Scott that he was already aware of some of the issues identified in the report. Robertson further stated that the Georgia Department of Corrections is understaffed and has been so since the 1980s. He said some of the incarcerated offenders are being held on violence charges and the state has a committee that reviews conditions in correctional facilities.