A federal judge has dealt another blow to former Clayton County Sheriff Victor Hill, who was convicted in 2022 of violating the rights of six detainees in the county jail, while he is currently running for Congress.
In her order on July 2, U.S. District Judge Eleanor Ross wrote that a decision must be made on the civil rights claims brought by Raheem Peterkin. The man is said to have been restrained in a chair for hours at Hill’s orders while he was being held as a pretrial detainee at the Clayton County Jail in 2019, causing him “physical pain, bodily injury, and emotional suffering.”
Court records show Peterkin filed the complaint against Hill in May 2024. But, Hill bought himself some time by arguing that his conviction was not “final” because he planned to challenge it before the U.S. Supreme Court. A federal appeals court had upheld his conviction just one month prior, though Hill has continued to claim his trial was rigged for political reasons.
The U.S. Supreme Court rejected Hill’s petition this spring. His attorneys did not respond to a request for comment.
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