Georgia lawmakers should consider expanding mental health services, staffing and de-escalation training to address deaths and neglect at state prisons, a panel of lawmakers said last week.
The panel voted Friday for recommendations for the Georgia legislature to consider when it convenes in January. Two months ago, the Justice Department said it would sue if state prison officials didn’t act swiftly to curb the violations of prisoners’ Eighth Amendment protections against cruel punishment. And Georgia prisons are on track to set another record for homicides in 2024, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
State Rep. Matt Hatchett, a Republican from Dublin who chairs the House Appropriations Committee, confirmed he supports spending money to curb the violence and increasing single-cell facilities but he does not think that all facilities need to be single-cell, as the report suggests.
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