1 00:00:11,480 --> 00:00:14,920 Speaker 1: Welcome to It could happen here today. I'm your host, 2 00:00:15,040 --> 00:00:19,200 Speaker 1: Garrison Davis, and this is part two of our three 3 00:00:19,239 --> 00:00:23,560 Speaker 1: part series on the history of the old Atlanta Prison Farm, 4 00:00:23,600 --> 00:00:29,480 Speaker 1: made in collaboration with the Atlanta Community Press Collective. Last episode, 5 00:00:29,600 --> 00:00:33,239 Speaker 1: I talked about how one of the initial motivations for 6 00:00:33,360 --> 00:00:36,640 Speaker 1: running a city prison farm was to save money on 7 00:00:36,720 --> 00:00:40,840 Speaker 1: the project of incarceration, or perhaps even starts generating money. 8 00:00:41,479 --> 00:00:45,760 Speaker 1: This remained the case throughout its existence, though exactly how 9 00:00:45,840 --> 00:00:49,720 Speaker 1: well it performed at that was often questioned. Use of 10 00:00:49,840 --> 00:00:53,400 Speaker 1: prison or slave labor for government projects was not a 11 00:00:53,440 --> 00:00:56,600 Speaker 1: new concept in Atlanta, though around the time of its 12 00:00:56,600 --> 00:01:00,040 Speaker 1: incorporation in the mid nineteenth century, this it even and 13 00:01:00,200 --> 00:01:06,600 Speaker 1: as population was around one fifth enslaved persons. City Hall itself, 14 00:01:06,720 --> 00:01:10,920 Speaker 1: along with many other iconic buildings and roads, was built 15 00:01:11,080 --> 00:01:16,520 Speaker 1: using convict lease labor from the Chattahoochee Brickworks, notorious for 16 00:01:16,600 --> 00:01:21,320 Speaker 1: its brutal conditions and was owned by a former Atlanta mayor. 17 00:01:22,240 --> 00:01:27,000 Speaker 1: The City Prison Farm produced various crops, livestock, and dairy, 18 00:01:27,080 --> 00:01:31,280 Speaker 1: but it also provided workers for other city projects. In 19 00:01:31,360 --> 00:01:36,080 Speaker 1: nineteen forty six, Superintendent H. H. Gibson bragged that he 20 00:01:36,280 --> 00:01:39,640 Speaker 1: was cutting the city prison food budget in half, as 21 00:01:39,640 --> 00:01:43,480 Speaker 1: well as quote furnishing the city eleven thousand, nine hundred 22 00:01:43,640 --> 00:01:47,560 Speaker 1: sixty one man days of work on city streets by 23 00:01:47,600 --> 00:01:53,720 Speaker 1: prisoners unquote within a sixth month period. In ninety nine, 24 00:01:53,880 --> 00:01:57,960 Speaker 1: they began saving further money on incarceration by getting the 25 00:01:58,000 --> 00:02:02,240 Speaker 1: women prisoners to make the new uniforms, adding that quote 26 00:02:02,520 --> 00:02:05,720 Speaker 1: the city can buy better materials because the labor is 27 00:02:05,840 --> 00:02:11,519 Speaker 1: free unquote. They attempted to incentivize overtime work by offering 28 00:02:11,639 --> 00:02:15,640 Speaker 1: quote extra credit for each hour of overtime worked for 29 00:02:15,919 --> 00:02:20,880 Speaker 1: reduced sentences. The prisoners were forced to build some of 30 00:02:21,120 --> 00:02:26,600 Speaker 1: their own cages as well. One of the older prison 31 00:02:26,639 --> 00:02:30,320 Speaker 1: buildings was designated for use as a hospital for people 32 00:02:30,360 --> 00:02:34,520 Speaker 1: with manereal diseases. That meant that prisoners would need a 33 00:02:34,600 --> 00:02:38,440 Speaker 1: new building and they had to build it themselves. Quote. 34 00:02:38,840 --> 00:02:41,600 Speaker 1: Most of the work was done with prison labor, with 35 00:02:41,680 --> 00:02:46,440 Speaker 1: the city providing the materials unquote. They were also responsible 36 00:02:46,520 --> 00:02:50,000 Speaker 1: for the cleaning and maintenance of the buildings in order 37 00:02:50,040 --> 00:02:54,840 Speaker 1: to pass health inspection. According to an Atlantic Constitution article, quote, 38 00:02:55,040 --> 00:02:58,959 Speaker 1: the dormitory scrubbed daily by men and women whose drunkenness 39 00:02:59,040 --> 00:03:02,400 Speaker 1: and traffic violation sations placed them behind a mop or 40 00:03:02,560 --> 00:03:07,560 Speaker 1: tractor for an average fifteen day stay one four health rating. 41 00:03:08,400 --> 00:03:12,639 Speaker 1: In nineteen fifty eight, prisoners were even made to rescue 42 00:03:12,680 --> 00:03:16,920 Speaker 1: a guard's furniture from a fire. By the nineteen seventies, 43 00:03:17,200 --> 00:03:20,799 Speaker 1: the farm provided more than half the food and dairy 44 00:03:20,800 --> 00:03:25,840 Speaker 1: products for inmates in city detention centers. By the nineteen eighties, 45 00:03:25,960 --> 00:03:29,320 Speaker 1: the prison farm had stopped growing crops, but still provided 46 00:03:29,480 --> 00:03:33,640 Speaker 1: for of the pork and beef eaten by the prisoners, 47 00:03:33,680 --> 00:03:38,680 Speaker 1: both at the farm and at the city jail. The 48 00:03:38,760 --> 00:03:44,280 Speaker 1: work heavily subsidized city operations and was considered crucial. H. H. Gibson, 49 00:03:44,400 --> 00:03:47,280 Speaker 1: the head of the prison farm in nine, said, quote, 50 00:03:47,680 --> 00:03:51,760 Speaker 1: idleness is the root of all evil in prison management. 51 00:03:52,280 --> 00:03:55,040 Speaker 1: To be completely exempt from work, a prisoner should be 52 00:03:55,080 --> 00:04:00,240 Speaker 1: minus both arms and both legs unquote. In the Warrior 53 00:04:00,440 --> 00:04:04,400 Speaker 1: Journal article where he makes those claims, The publication also 54 00:04:04,560 --> 00:04:08,720 Speaker 1: accepts Gibson's claims that he quote took care to see 55 00:04:08,760 --> 00:04:12,720 Speaker 1: the guards did not overwork prisoners, and that the guards 56 00:04:12,720 --> 00:04:16,640 Speaker 1: are not permitted to strike or even curse prisoners unquote, 57 00:04:17,160 --> 00:04:21,680 Speaker 1: and this would of course be later proven very much untrue. 58 00:04:22,200 --> 00:04:25,200 Speaker 1: White guards were known to send black women to a 59 00:04:25,279 --> 00:04:30,560 Speaker 1: less occupied area, supposedly to do extra work, but upon arrival, 60 00:04:30,720 --> 00:04:35,120 Speaker 1: the prisoners would be raped by the guards. If they refused, 61 00:04:35,440 --> 00:04:39,680 Speaker 1: they were quote given a hard way to go unquote. 62 00:04:40,360 --> 00:04:43,800 Speaker 1: These same guards had the power to assign extra work 63 00:04:43,920 --> 00:04:48,520 Speaker 1: to prisoners. This was supposed to have been fixed several 64 00:04:48,600 --> 00:04:52,280 Speaker 1: years earlier with the hiring of a black woman guard, 65 00:04:52,680 --> 00:04:56,520 Speaker 1: but according to the Pittsburgh Courier, she was quote only 66 00:04:56,640 --> 00:05:00,040 Speaker 1: a matron in the name. The white guards continued to 67 00:05:00,040 --> 00:05:05,520 Speaker 1: provides the colored women inmates unquote. The same statement details 68 00:05:05,600 --> 00:05:08,720 Speaker 1: a beating with a broom handle. It claims that black 69 00:05:08,760 --> 00:05:11,919 Speaker 1: women were forced to farm in the rain while white 70 00:05:11,920 --> 00:05:15,000 Speaker 1: women were allowed to stay inside and read newspapers, and 71 00:05:15,120 --> 00:05:20,239 Speaker 1: called for further investigations since the banning of the bucking 72 00:05:20,320 --> 00:05:25,400 Speaker 1: chair used for whippings, solitary confinement end quote. The whole 73 00:05:25,480 --> 00:05:30,000 Speaker 1: unquote was the official punishment for not working at the 74 00:05:30,120 --> 00:05:34,359 Speaker 1: standards set by their prison guards and wardens. We know 75 00:05:34,640 --> 00:05:39,120 Speaker 1: little about the conditions of the whole in earlier years, 76 00:05:39,120 --> 00:05:43,279 Speaker 1: but in nineteen sixty five, a new administrator named Ralph 77 00:05:43,400 --> 00:05:47,400 Speaker 1: Halsey took over operations of the prison farm. A scathing 78 00:05:47,520 --> 00:05:52,599 Speaker 1: report from journalist Dick Herbert, who went undercover as a prisoner, alleged, 79 00:05:53,040 --> 00:05:56,359 Speaker 1: among many other things, that the whole was quote where 80 00:05:56,360 --> 00:06:01,960 Speaker 1: men were starved and degraded unquote. His report drew much 81 00:06:02,040 --> 00:06:05,400 Speaker 1: negative attention to the conditions on the farm, the whole 82 00:06:05,640 --> 00:06:09,240 Speaker 1: being one of them. At the time, Holsey said that 83 00:06:09,320 --> 00:06:12,000 Speaker 1: he was quote not happy with it as it is, 84 00:06:12,360 --> 00:06:16,400 Speaker 1: but it is necessary for a discipline unquote. The whole 85 00:06:16,520 --> 00:06:20,320 Speaker 1: was described as an eight foot by four foot windowless 86 00:06:20,400 --> 00:06:26,120 Speaker 1: room where troublesome inmates are kept in solitary confinement. It's 87 00:06:26,120 --> 00:06:31,080 Speaker 1: described as quote. Furnishings now include a pale and two buckets, 88 00:06:31,520 --> 00:06:36,840 Speaker 1: no bed, no mattress or plumbing. Holsey allegedly planned to 89 00:06:37,000 --> 00:06:40,880 Speaker 1: fit such cells with an iron lattice, bunk and toilet facilities, 90 00:06:41,279 --> 00:06:43,599 Speaker 1: but we have no indication that this was ever followed 91 00:06:43,600 --> 00:06:47,560 Speaker 1: through on, and the whole continued to be used regularly 92 00:06:47,760 --> 00:07:01,240 Speaker 1: up until the mid eighties. Lead ship of the prison 93 00:07:01,279 --> 00:07:05,480 Speaker 1: farm changed hands many times throughout its history, and at 94 00:07:05,520 --> 00:07:09,400 Speaker 1: each passing of the torch there were claims of improvement 95 00:07:09,880 --> 00:07:13,840 Speaker 1: the dawn of a new, better era, bleak and cruel 96 00:07:13,840 --> 00:07:18,680 Speaker 1: conditions remained no matter who was in charge. Archival research 97 00:07:18,760 --> 00:07:21,680 Speaker 1: shows that for over half a century. Life on the 98 00:07:21,680 --> 00:07:27,280 Speaker 1: farm was subject to hard labor, long days, harsh punishments, overcrowding, 99 00:07:27,560 --> 00:07:33,440 Speaker 1: poor sanitation, and constantly lacking healthcare. J. D. Hudson, the 100 00:07:33,480 --> 00:07:37,000 Speaker 1: superintendent of the prison farm in later years, who was 101 00:07:37,080 --> 00:07:41,360 Speaker 1: hyped up by press as a sort of humanitarian reformer, 102 00:07:42,000 --> 00:07:46,600 Speaker 1: described the previous conditions of the prison farm as slave labor. 103 00:07:47,320 --> 00:07:50,760 Speaker 1: He bragged frequently of his intention to give prisoners quote 104 00:07:51,080 --> 00:07:55,239 Speaker 1: a measure of self respect so they could lead decent lives. Again. 105 00:07:56,320 --> 00:08:01,000 Speaker 1: Upon being instated, he announced his intention to empty solitary 106 00:08:01,080 --> 00:08:05,320 Speaker 1: confinement and forbid guards from hitting or abusing inmates, something 107 00:08:05,360 --> 00:08:09,120 Speaker 1: which we must point out had been declared many times 108 00:08:09,120 --> 00:08:12,760 Speaker 1: before already. He also made statements saying that inmates are 109 00:08:12,880 --> 00:08:16,760 Speaker 1: quote written with guilt about their lives, and they want 110 00:08:16,880 --> 00:08:20,320 Speaker 1: to be mistreated and abused, and they want to be 111 00:08:20,400 --> 00:08:25,000 Speaker 1: denigrated as some sort of atonement for their sins unquote. 112 00:08:25,680 --> 00:08:29,960 Speaker 1: So this might explain why the great reformer himself was 113 00:08:30,000 --> 00:08:32,760 Speaker 1: still in charge when the a c l U sued 114 00:08:32,800 --> 00:08:36,760 Speaker 1: the city in two for conditions on the farm, citing 115 00:08:36,840 --> 00:08:41,600 Speaker 1: quote illegal and unconstitutional punishments such as leg irons and 116 00:08:41,760 --> 00:08:46,679 Speaker 1: excessive time in solitary confinement unquote, along with the long 117 00:08:46,720 --> 00:08:51,600 Speaker 1: track record of unsanitary conditions. Mayor Andrew Young said of 118 00:08:51,640 --> 00:08:54,880 Speaker 1: the suit, quote, it's simply a problem the city hasn't 119 00:08:54,880 --> 00:08:58,920 Speaker 1: gotten around to handling yet unquote. At that point, the 120 00:08:59,000 --> 00:09:03,880 Speaker 1: whole was still in use as solitary confinement and described 121 00:09:04,000 --> 00:09:07,240 Speaker 1: as a room seven feet long by four ft wide 122 00:09:07,320 --> 00:09:10,240 Speaker 1: that is virtually without heat in the winter and without 123 00:09:10,320 --> 00:09:13,760 Speaker 1: cooling in the summer. Prisoners were held there twenty three 124 00:09:13,800 --> 00:09:17,080 Speaker 1: hours a day, with an hour out for baths, often 125 00:09:17,120 --> 00:09:20,480 Speaker 1: held for many days at a time. The suit was 126 00:09:20,480 --> 00:09:24,800 Speaker 1: settled in nineteen eighty five with a forty dollar settlements 127 00:09:24,840 --> 00:09:28,960 Speaker 1: split between three former prisoners, but the city never actually 128 00:09:29,040 --> 00:09:33,719 Speaker 1: admitted guilt. Prison farm staff were also ordered to avoid 129 00:09:33,920 --> 00:09:37,840 Speaker 1: using isolation cells like the whole and told to build 130 00:09:37,880 --> 00:09:41,720 Speaker 1: twenty new individual cells. The a c l U and 131 00:09:41,760 --> 00:09:44,840 Speaker 1: those supporting the suit hoped that this lawsuit would push 132 00:09:44,880 --> 00:09:48,439 Speaker 1: the city to make changes, but in nineteen eighty seven, 133 00:09:48,520 --> 00:09:51,360 Speaker 1: just two years later, the city tried to build twenty 134 00:09:51,400 --> 00:09:54,640 Speaker 1: more solitary confinement cells at the prison farm, and this 135 00:09:54,679 --> 00:09:59,320 Speaker 1: project only fell through because white contractors they hired were 136 00:09:59,360 --> 00:10:03,719 Speaker 1: caught take job contracts slated for minority run businesses by 137 00:10:03,840 --> 00:10:06,960 Speaker 1: using a front. And hopefully you don't need me to 138 00:10:07,000 --> 00:10:10,240 Speaker 1: tell you that solitary confinement is still used as punishment 139 00:10:10,320 --> 00:10:14,080 Speaker 1: in most prisons today. It's been ages since I looked 140 00:10:14,080 --> 00:10:18,280 Speaker 1: at this newspaper clothes document and just there's so much 141 00:10:19,160 --> 00:10:22,640 Speaker 1: Atlanta may well take pride and the fact that It's 142 00:10:22,679 --> 00:10:25,680 Speaker 1: City prison Farm has won such recognition as a model 143 00:10:26,080 --> 00:10:30,280 Speaker 1: progressive institution that decided as a model in other metropolitan 144 00:10:30,360 --> 00:10:34,920 Speaker 1: areas for municipal penal systems need improvement. I mean, that's 145 00:10:34,920 --> 00:10:37,800 Speaker 1: the same thing they're trying to do with Cops City. Yeah, 146 00:10:37,880 --> 00:10:42,120 Speaker 1: and this is this is from that. That was one 147 00:10:42,120 --> 00:10:44,120 Speaker 1: of the surprising things that that we found was that 148 00:10:45,440 --> 00:10:49,120 Speaker 1: so many aspects of like the specific fights that are 149 00:10:49,160 --> 00:10:54,240 Speaker 1: being had about Cops City have happened fifty sixty years ago. 150 00:10:54,320 --> 00:10:56,880 Speaker 1: Like they were trying to expand the prison farm I 151 00:10:56,920 --> 00:10:59,840 Speaker 1: think eastward more into the Cab County in the forties, 152 00:11:00,040 --> 00:11:02,560 Speaker 1: and that the Cab County residents were like, no, you 153 00:11:02,600 --> 00:11:05,840 Speaker 1: can't do this to our county. But it was because 154 00:11:05,880 --> 00:11:09,400 Speaker 1: they didn't want the black prisoners near the white elementary school. 155 00:11:09,920 --> 00:11:14,560 Speaker 1: And like nine that was like wasn't long after when 156 00:11:14,640 --> 00:11:20,960 Speaker 1: they like formally disallowed whipping. Yeah, Like that's like it's 157 00:11:21,000 --> 00:11:23,720 Speaker 1: there's still like obviously it's they're still doing brutal stuff 158 00:11:23,720 --> 00:11:26,680 Speaker 1: in terms of like solitary and other forms of torture 159 00:11:26,760 --> 00:11:31,719 Speaker 1: and rape, but like posing it as this like model facilities, 160 00:11:31,800 --> 00:11:34,960 Speaker 1: like you just got in trouble like a few years previous, 161 00:11:35,000 --> 00:11:38,600 Speaker 1: for like whipping all of your prisoners, tying people down 162 00:11:38,600 --> 00:11:41,760 Speaker 1: to a chair. Like and then one of my favorites 163 00:11:42,160 --> 00:11:46,040 Speaker 1: guards shoot two women prisoners while firing vainly at each other. 164 00:11:46,920 --> 00:11:48,480 Speaker 1: I can't remember if we put that one in the 165 00:11:48,559 --> 00:11:51,360 Speaker 1: article or not, but two prison guards were shooting at 166 00:11:51,360 --> 00:11:53,560 Speaker 1: each other because they were, I don't know, cranky or 167 00:11:53,600 --> 00:11:57,679 Speaker 1: whatever and ended up just like shooting to prisoners. Since then, 168 00:11:58,320 --> 00:12:01,199 Speaker 1: inside the report for last year on the history of 169 00:12:01,200 --> 00:12:04,719 Speaker 1: the Person Farm, there's like almost like a hundred citations 170 00:12:04,840 --> 00:12:09,120 Speaker 1: and a whole bunch of background stuff. How once you 171 00:12:09,160 --> 00:12:11,520 Speaker 1: kind have had this question of like is there unmarked 172 00:12:11,640 --> 00:12:13,760 Speaker 1: graves at this site? How can we go about researching it? 173 00:12:14,440 --> 00:12:18,040 Speaker 1: What were the kind of techniques and things you used 174 00:12:18,120 --> 00:12:22,320 Speaker 1: to gather all of this information, um and then let alone, 175 00:12:22,360 --> 00:12:24,120 Speaker 1: like how do you start sorting through all that to 176 00:12:24,120 --> 00:12:27,280 Speaker 1: pick out you know, which which seems more incredible than others. 177 00:12:27,360 --> 00:12:29,240 Speaker 1: You know, there's a lot of there's a lot of 178 00:12:29,280 --> 00:12:34,160 Speaker 1: conflicting history in in in some regards. So how what 179 00:12:34,240 --> 00:12:37,240 Speaker 1: was like the whole entire research process, Like because looking 180 00:12:37,280 --> 00:12:43,120 Speaker 1: at just the list of citations, it is a little overwhelming. Yes, 181 00:12:43,360 --> 00:12:48,760 Speaker 1: it's very overwhelming. So our rather co author and Laura, 182 00:12:49,360 --> 00:12:54,560 Speaker 1: they did so much of the research, um, Like I 183 00:12:54,600 --> 00:12:57,120 Speaker 1: have to give enormous prompts to them. Like they even 184 00:12:57,160 --> 00:13:01,240 Speaker 1: made a couple of trips to things like the State 185 00:13:01,360 --> 00:13:04,920 Speaker 1: Archives which are slightly south of the city. I think 186 00:13:06,000 --> 00:13:09,200 Speaker 1: kind of snuck into a university library because a lot 187 00:13:09,240 --> 00:13:13,760 Speaker 1: of a lot of these like in person resources were 188 00:13:14,880 --> 00:13:17,319 Speaker 1: still closed at the time due to COVID restrictions. A 189 00:13:17,400 --> 00:13:20,480 Speaker 1: lot of them aren't open now unfortunately. So like we 190 00:13:20,559 --> 00:13:26,040 Speaker 1: have a huge document of just like newspaper quotes. A 191 00:13:26,240 --> 00:13:32,480 Speaker 1: big big source for us were historical newspaper articles, mostly 192 00:13:32,559 --> 00:13:37,600 Speaker 1: because because we initially started looking for official documents um 193 00:13:37,880 --> 00:13:40,920 Speaker 1: this this is a pub this was a public entity. 194 00:13:41,440 --> 00:13:44,360 Speaker 1: The city is required to keep records UM and what 195 00:13:44,400 --> 00:13:48,120 Speaker 1: we found was just a huge dearth of them, and 196 00:13:48,160 --> 00:13:52,080 Speaker 1: most of the articles that are not articles but like 197 00:13:52,120 --> 00:13:55,800 Speaker 1: official documents that are still around are how used in 198 00:13:55,840 --> 00:14:01,400 Speaker 1: a really great collection at Georgia State univer City in downtown. 199 00:14:02,200 --> 00:14:06,080 Speaker 1: But a lot of those things are they're just fairly limited, 200 00:14:06,160 --> 00:14:09,360 Speaker 1: or if they're like year to year reports, it's like 201 00:14:09,640 --> 00:14:11,720 Speaker 1: just one from the fifties, there is one from the sixties. 202 00:14:11,720 --> 00:14:17,680 Speaker 1: There's no consistent documentation available. So then we went to 203 00:14:17,679 --> 00:14:22,480 Speaker 1: public record, which was newspaper articles, and oh my god, 204 00:14:22,720 --> 00:14:26,200 Speaker 1: there are so many newspaper articles about the prison farm. 205 00:14:26,240 --> 00:14:29,360 Speaker 1: I never want to read a newspaper again. And we 206 00:14:29,480 --> 00:14:33,120 Speaker 1: kind of used things that happened at the prison farm 207 00:14:33,200 --> 00:14:37,280 Speaker 1: that we're noteworthy enough to make it into the newspaper too. 208 00:14:38,560 --> 00:14:42,440 Speaker 1: I guess you could say guide what the biggest beats 209 00:14:42,480 --> 00:14:45,480 Speaker 1: in the history of the prison farm work. And that 210 00:14:45,680 --> 00:14:50,920 Speaker 1: kind of led us to what was something that we 211 00:14:50,960 --> 00:14:55,440 Speaker 1: didn't know when we started our research, which was just 212 00:14:55,640 --> 00:15:00,480 Speaker 1: how poorly or just how mangled the history of the 213 00:15:00,520 --> 00:15:07,040 Speaker 1: prison part has become. This land approximately nineteen five started 214 00:15:07,080 --> 00:15:10,480 Speaker 1: becoming a police training academy, so there has been some 215 00:15:10,560 --> 00:15:16,120 Speaker 1: sort of police training facility on this land since approximately 216 00:15:18,680 --> 00:15:23,160 Speaker 1: There was even a slight version of a mock city 217 00:15:23,200 --> 00:15:26,360 Speaker 1: in the eight They had an intersection that was for 218 00:15:26,640 --> 00:15:32,560 Speaker 1: training for urban encounters. If you will. So this is 219 00:15:32,600 --> 00:15:34,920 Speaker 1: the kind of information that we're digging to try to 220 00:15:34,960 --> 00:15:39,480 Speaker 1: find the history. We're literally seeing legal notices in the newspaper, 221 00:15:39,520 --> 00:15:44,040 Speaker 1: so advertisements, and this is how we're piecing this information together. 222 00:15:45,280 --> 00:15:49,400 Speaker 1: When the pandemic hit for the first time in recent memory, 223 00:15:49,520 --> 00:15:53,080 Speaker 1: there was a large scale public discussion on how the 224 00:15:53,160 --> 00:15:56,280 Speaker 1: structure of the prison system is detrimental to the health 225 00:15:56,400 --> 00:16:01,520 Speaker 1: of incarcerated persons. Public health experts advocated that the best 226 00:16:01,520 --> 00:16:04,680 Speaker 1: way to limit the spread of disease is simply to 227 00:16:04,720 --> 00:16:08,600 Speaker 1: have less people in prison. We'll talk more about COVID's 228 00:16:08,640 --> 00:16:12,320 Speaker 1: impact on prison populations in a bit, but first let's 229 00:16:12,360 --> 00:16:16,560 Speaker 1: note how overcrowding and lack of medical treatment in prisons 230 00:16:16,640 --> 00:16:21,160 Speaker 1: leading to disastrous and deadly health outcomes is no new issue. 231 00:16:22,240 --> 00:16:25,960 Speaker 1: When Dick Herbert went into the Atlanta prison farm undercover 232 00:16:26,160 --> 00:16:30,520 Speaker 1: for the Atlanta Journal Constitution in nineteen sixty, one of 233 00:16:30,640 --> 00:16:35,960 Speaker 1: his main findings was quote non existent medical treatment. He 234 00:16:36,040 --> 00:16:42,360 Speaker 1: reported quote tubercular, coughing, sickly men waiting to die, society's 235 00:16:42,480 --> 00:16:46,800 Speaker 1: discards herded into an unwashed stock aide, only to be 236 00:16:46,880 --> 00:16:50,920 Speaker 1: turned out again without even a smattering of help. Unquote. 237 00:16:51,960 --> 00:16:54,760 Speaker 1: This was the case from the early days of the 238 00:16:54,760 --> 00:16:58,920 Speaker 1: prison farm and remained the case for long after. Already, 239 00:16:59,000 --> 00:17:02,280 Speaker 1: by nineteen thirty eight, the prison farm was described by 240 00:17:02,360 --> 00:17:07,520 Speaker 1: Mayor Hartsfield as an ungodly mess and was likely facing 241 00:17:07,560 --> 00:17:11,399 Speaker 1: issues with communicable diseases, as evidenced by a call for 242 00:17:11,640 --> 00:17:16,240 Speaker 1: quote separate hospital wards for diseased prisoners unquote, but it 243 00:17:16,320 --> 00:17:20,240 Speaker 1: took city council until nineteen forty one to even quote 244 00:17:20,520 --> 00:17:24,000 Speaker 1: study a proposal to equip the new building nearing completion 245 00:17:24,280 --> 00:17:28,760 Speaker 1: for a five hundred bed emergency hospital unquote. The completed 246 00:17:28,760 --> 00:17:32,359 Speaker 1: building was still not furnished by nineteen forty three, and 247 00:17:32,440 --> 00:17:35,399 Speaker 1: in nineteen forty four, instead of making the new building 248 00:17:35,440 --> 00:17:38,359 Speaker 1: into a health facility, they moved the prisoners into the 249 00:17:38,400 --> 00:17:41,359 Speaker 1: new building and fitted the twenty year old prison building 250 00:17:41,440 --> 00:17:45,159 Speaker 1: out to be a city detention hospital for treatment of 251 00:17:45,160 --> 00:17:49,800 Speaker 1: those infected with venereal disease, and then, rather than be 252 00:17:50,040 --> 00:17:52,800 Speaker 1: used as a hospital ward for the prison farm, it 253 00:17:52,840 --> 00:17:55,919 Speaker 1: was then used to treat a maneial disease bastions from 254 00:17:55,920 --> 00:18:00,520 Speaker 1: throughout the city. This was expected to quote meet demand 255 00:18:00,600 --> 00:18:05,160 Speaker 1: for years to come, but by there were already calls 256 00:18:05,200 --> 00:18:08,320 Speaker 1: to close the entire prison farm and convert the whole 257 00:18:08,359 --> 00:18:11,800 Speaker 1: thing into a maven aerial disease quarantine clinic due to 258 00:18:11,840 --> 00:18:16,280 Speaker 1: an increasing load. Obviously, those calls were never adopted, and 259 00:18:16,320 --> 00:18:21,080 Speaker 1: the prison farm remained in operation in a grossly recursive 260 00:18:21,200 --> 00:18:25,399 Speaker 1: mirror of the present. In an October one, nineteen fifty 261 00:18:25,480 --> 00:18:30,240 Speaker 1: seven edition of the Atlantic Constitution, a quote Asian flew 262 00:18:30,400 --> 00:18:34,800 Speaker 1: outbreak prompted the immediate release of quote any person who 263 00:18:34,880 --> 00:18:38,120 Speaker 1: is ill and who has a home to return to unquote. 264 00:18:38,560 --> 00:18:42,200 Speaker 1: Even this was qualified, though H. H. Gibson, who was 265 00:18:42,280 --> 00:18:44,840 Speaker 1: heading the prison at the time, said that only some 266 00:18:44,920 --> 00:18:48,040 Speaker 1: of those who had been convicted of just light in 267 00:18:48,119 --> 00:18:52,880 Speaker 1: fractions would be released. He also said that older men 268 00:18:52,960 --> 00:18:55,679 Speaker 1: with a history of tuberculosis would be released due to 269 00:18:55,760 --> 00:19:00,800 Speaker 1: the risk of their contracting pneumonia. Quoting Gibson, quote, none 270 00:19:00,840 --> 00:19:03,040 Speaker 1: of the men who had temperatures of one hundred and 271 00:19:03,080 --> 00:19:06,160 Speaker 1: one or more were released. Some of these older men 272 00:19:06,280 --> 00:19:09,240 Speaker 1: have no places to go, and if we released them 273 00:19:09,280 --> 00:19:13,200 Speaker 1: with a possible case of flu and higher temperature, chances 274 00:19:13,200 --> 00:19:15,400 Speaker 1: are we would find them dead in the woods or 275 00:19:15,480 --> 00:19:19,399 Speaker 1: somewhere a day later. Unquote. There was no mention of 276 00:19:19,440 --> 00:19:22,520 Speaker 1: efforts to mitigate spread within the prison of Farm facility, 277 00:19:23,000 --> 00:19:26,119 Speaker 1: and the fate of those who were forced to stay 278 00:19:26,160 --> 00:19:29,760 Speaker 1: is unknown to us at the present moment. In December 279 00:19:29,800 --> 00:19:33,640 Speaker 1: of nineteen fifty seven, the Decab County Grand Jury presented 280 00:19:33,680 --> 00:19:37,240 Speaker 1: findings from an investigation that found that the prison farm 281 00:19:37,480 --> 00:19:41,919 Speaker 1: was severely lacking in healthcare. They advised that a building 282 00:19:41,960 --> 00:19:44,560 Speaker 1: should be provided so that prisoners who are ill can 283 00:19:44,600 --> 00:19:47,160 Speaker 1: be held aside from the ones who are not sick, 284 00:19:47,840 --> 00:19:51,200 Speaker 1: meaning that in the twenty years since this was first proposed, 285 00:19:51,640 --> 00:19:55,360 Speaker 1: it had still not been implemented. They recommended that prisoners 286 00:19:55,400 --> 00:19:58,679 Speaker 1: who were sick be given examinations and a record to 287 00:19:58,760 --> 00:20:01,400 Speaker 1: be kept of those prison ers, and the prison farm 288 00:20:01,440 --> 00:20:05,920 Speaker 1: should quote employ a proper nursing staff unquote. Their final 289 00:20:05,960 --> 00:20:09,640 Speaker 1: recommendation was that quote some sort of sick quarters should 290 00:20:09,680 --> 00:20:12,400 Speaker 1: be put into effects the prisoners who are ill can 291 00:20:12,440 --> 00:20:15,640 Speaker 1: be held aside from the ones who are not sick unquote. 292 00:20:16,200 --> 00:20:20,120 Speaker 1: The implication from these recommendations, of course, is that none 293 00:20:20,119 --> 00:20:22,840 Speaker 1: of these practices were in placed at the time of investigation. 294 00:20:23,400 --> 00:20:26,560 Speaker 1: A year later, in November of nineteen fifty eight, a 295 00:20:26,680 --> 00:20:31,840 Speaker 1: second Decab grand jury quote found fault with its medical facilities, 296 00:20:32,080 --> 00:20:36,240 Speaker 1: along with the lack of fire safeguards in the prison farm. 297 00:20:36,280 --> 00:20:39,399 Speaker 1: Of course, thanks to Dick Herbert's undercover investigation for the 298 00:20:39,440 --> 00:20:43,920 Speaker 1: Atlanta Journal Constitution, we now know that by nineteen sixty five, 299 00:20:44,040 --> 00:20:47,600 Speaker 1: nearly ten years later, medical treatment was still found to 300 00:20:47,640 --> 00:20:51,040 Speaker 1: be non existent at the prison farm, and by nineteen 301 00:20:51,160 --> 00:20:54,680 Speaker 1: sixty seven, a prisoner quote with a record of hospitalization 302 00:20:54,760 --> 00:20:59,760 Speaker 1: for tuberculosis and heart trouble, collapsed and died unquote just 303 00:21:00,040 --> 00:21:03,119 Speaker 1: bite the order that medical records for sick patients be kept. 304 00:21:03,520 --> 00:21:06,800 Speaker 1: There was no record on file that this patient had 305 00:21:06,840 --> 00:21:11,720 Speaker 1: ever seen the doctor. Recorded sections from a meeting between 306 00:21:11,920 --> 00:21:15,680 Speaker 1: the prison Farm and the Department of Prisons indicate that 307 00:21:15,720 --> 00:21:19,000 Speaker 1: they planned to hire a full time registered nurse in 308 00:21:19,119 --> 00:21:24,080 Speaker 1: nineteen seventy two to assist the on site doctor. Other 309 00:21:24,160 --> 00:21:29,520 Speaker 1: plans included tests for tuberculosis, PEP tests for female prisoners, 310 00:21:29,560 --> 00:21:33,960 Speaker 1: and basic height, weight and blood tests. They also indicated 311 00:21:34,000 --> 00:21:37,920 Speaker 1: that they were not currently providing vision, hearing, or dental care. 312 00:21:38,640 --> 00:21:42,199 Speaker 1: In Atlanta Voice article from nineteen seventy three claims there 313 00:21:42,200 --> 00:21:45,960 Speaker 1: are quote unquote new improvements in this area, with the 314 00:21:46,080 --> 00:21:50,440 Speaker 1: quote employment of a physician and two nurses, a detoxification 315 00:21:50,520 --> 00:21:55,040 Speaker 1: program for alcoholics, health tests, and a humane approach to 316 00:21:55,160 --> 00:21:59,680 Speaker 1: prisoner problems unquote, but by nineteen seventy six we still 317 00:21:59,720 --> 00:22:05,200 Speaker 1: see such things being raised as simply proposals. An interoffice 318 00:22:05,240 --> 00:22:10,040 Speaker 1: communication at Grady Memorial Hospital states the need for quote 319 00:22:10,320 --> 00:22:14,000 Speaker 1: a nurse clinician to be hired by Grady and paid 320 00:22:14,000 --> 00:22:17,680 Speaker 1: by the state under contract to provide screening and triage 321 00:22:17,680 --> 00:22:22,840 Speaker 1: services on site and referral when appropriate to Grady Hospital. 322 00:22:23,920 --> 00:22:27,360 Speaker 1: One of them suggests entering this contract for reasons that 323 00:22:27,440 --> 00:22:33,320 Speaker 1: it will generate one dollars in income and quote minimize 324 00:22:33,400 --> 00:22:38,920 Speaker 1: public criticisms of inadequate healthcare for prisoners unquote. It also 325 00:22:38,960 --> 00:22:44,680 Speaker 1: states that currently prisoners quote get only crisis oriented emergency care. 326 00:22:45,920 --> 00:22:51,000 Speaker 1: A May nineteen seventy six Community Relations Commission report indicates 327 00:22:51,000 --> 00:22:54,080 Speaker 1: that many of the healthcare issues are caused by the 328 00:22:54,119 --> 00:22:58,439 Speaker 1: reluctance of guards to respond to prisoner complaints and quote 329 00:22:58,560 --> 00:23:03,200 Speaker 1: brutality at Grady hospit bittle by Atlanta police officers unquote. 330 00:23:03,680 --> 00:23:07,840 Speaker 1: Another proposal from Grady one month later suggests that rather 331 00:23:07,880 --> 00:23:11,320 Speaker 1: than hiring a nurse specifically for the prison farm, they 332 00:23:11,440 --> 00:23:15,399 Speaker 1: use a nurse from the central Referral office to act 333 00:23:15,440 --> 00:23:19,520 Speaker 1: as a liaison with non clinical personnel at each of 334 00:23:19,560 --> 00:23:23,400 Speaker 1: the eight detention centers in the city and give recommendations 335 00:23:23,440 --> 00:23:26,359 Speaker 1: over the phone. They note that this would save the 336 00:23:26,400 --> 00:23:30,760 Speaker 1: prison thousands of dollars a year. A nineteen seventy seven 337 00:23:30,840 --> 00:23:35,760 Speaker 1: letter from Shirley Millwood, interset Grady Hospital, indicates that prisoners 338 00:23:35,840 --> 00:23:40,080 Speaker 1: were still being transported to Grady for the administration of medication, 339 00:23:40,560 --> 00:23:44,000 Speaker 1: and that even that was not often done. One of 340 00:23:44,000 --> 00:23:46,360 Speaker 1: her patients was supposed to be brought in every day 341 00:23:46,359 --> 00:23:50,439 Speaker 1: for medication, but Millwood claimed, quote, the jail personnel have 342 00:23:50,600 --> 00:23:54,960 Speaker 1: not complied. The patient had been experiencing chest pain and 343 00:23:55,000 --> 00:23:58,320 Speaker 1: shortness of breath all afternoon, but was not brought in 344 00:23:58,520 --> 00:24:01,919 Speaker 1: until ten thirty p m. Quote. I feel that this 345 00:24:01,960 --> 00:24:05,159 Speaker 1: is negligent on their part, and it is certainly detrimental 346 00:24:05,240 --> 00:24:08,800 Speaker 1: to our patients. If something happens to this patient, will 347 00:24:08,840 --> 00:24:11,480 Speaker 1: the jail be liable for the problems that result from 348 00:24:11,560 --> 00:24:16,520 Speaker 1: him not being properly medicated? Unquote? In an undated document 349 00:24:16,880 --> 00:24:22,200 Speaker 1: entitled health Program City of Atlanta Prison Farm, pulled from 350 00:24:22,240 --> 00:24:25,800 Speaker 1: the same archival collection as the other Grady Hospital records, 351 00:24:26,480 --> 00:24:30,879 Speaker 1: does indicate that since nineteen see a doctor is on 352 00:24:30,960 --> 00:24:35,280 Speaker 1: site five days a week for one hour each day, 353 00:24:35,400 --> 00:24:38,840 Speaker 1: and a nurse is on duty twenty four hours a day. 354 00:24:39,240 --> 00:24:43,040 Speaker 1: It states that wherever feasible, treatment should be done on 355 00:24:43,080 --> 00:24:46,560 Speaker 1: the prison farm property, but lays out several procedures to 356 00:24:46,640 --> 00:24:53,200 Speaker 1: follow for serious medical emergencies, usually involving transportation to Grady Hospital. However, 357 00:24:53,240 --> 00:24:57,880 Speaker 1: it points out that quote unattended heart attacks, poison or suicide, 358 00:24:58,240 --> 00:25:02,479 Speaker 1: overdose cases, and har and withdrawal in jail frequently occur. 359 00:25:03,600 --> 00:25:07,639 Speaker 1: The report also says that in the case of public intoxication, quote, 360 00:25:08,119 --> 00:25:12,920 Speaker 1: minor medical skill and routine capacity in easing interpersonal tensions 361 00:25:13,359 --> 00:25:18,080 Speaker 1: can reduce difficulty for arresting officers, reduce the arrests needed, 362 00:25:18,520 --> 00:25:23,800 Speaker 1: and initiate more constructive rooting than directly to jail unquote. 363 00:25:24,440 --> 00:25:28,160 Speaker 1: The report points out that in diabetic patients, their convulsions 364 00:25:28,320 --> 00:25:32,200 Speaker 1: and the similar smell of their breath to acetone can 365 00:25:32,280 --> 00:25:36,600 Speaker 1: lead to incorrect conclusions with permanent health effects. It also 366 00:25:36,680 --> 00:25:41,560 Speaker 1: mentions that delirium treatment's condition associated with withdrawal of alcohol 367 00:25:41,600 --> 00:25:45,800 Speaker 1: and other substances can quote endanger and inmates life, and 368 00:25:45,880 --> 00:26:00,159 Speaker 1: more than one has died unquote without proper healthcare or 369 00:26:00,200 --> 00:26:03,919 Speaker 1: separation of sick and healthy prisoners, and in the midst 370 00:26:03,960 --> 00:26:08,920 Speaker 1: of a decades long tuberculosis epidemic, overcrowding would certainly be 371 00:26:09,000 --> 00:26:13,760 Speaker 1: a major contributing factor to sickness and death in prison scenarios. 372 00:26:14,680 --> 00:26:19,400 Speaker 1: Archival research found that overcrowding was a recurring complaint throughout 373 00:26:19,520 --> 00:26:23,680 Speaker 1: the over half century of the prison farm's existence, despite 374 00:26:23,760 --> 00:26:28,520 Speaker 1: frequent expansions, often motivated by the overcrowding in the first place. 375 00:26:29,480 --> 00:26:32,760 Speaker 1: Overcrowding is a common occurrence in prisons and jails throughout 376 00:26:32,800 --> 00:26:36,919 Speaker 1: the country. A longitudinal study by the Vera Institute of 377 00:26:36,960 --> 00:26:41,679 Speaker 1: Justice found that quote as jail populations have exceeded capacity, 378 00:26:42,040 --> 00:26:46,040 Speaker 1: county policy makers have turned to jail expansion rather than 379 00:26:46,080 --> 00:26:50,600 Speaker 1: alternatives to incarceration. In some cases, decision makers also argue 380 00:26:50,640 --> 00:26:54,639 Speaker 1: that replacing older facilities will provide safer living and working 381 00:26:54,640 --> 00:27:00,359 Speaker 1: conditions for the increasing numbers of people in the jail unquote. However, 382 00:27:00,760 --> 00:27:05,719 Speaker 1: institute researchers note that quote Larger jails built to accommodate 383 00:27:05,800 --> 00:27:11,160 Speaker 1: an overcrowded population often see their populations continue to increase. 384 00:27:11,760 --> 00:27:14,920 Speaker 1: This is because expansion alone fails to address the root 385 00:27:15,040 --> 00:27:19,119 Speaker 1: causes of overcrowding, leaving in place the very policies and 386 00:27:19,160 --> 00:27:24,400 Speaker 1: practices that drove the jail's population increase in the first place. Indeed, 387 00:27:24,480 --> 00:27:26,960 Speaker 1: there is a risk that the existence of a larger 388 00:27:27,040 --> 00:27:31,000 Speaker 1: jail with more beds may reduce the incentive to make 389 00:27:31,080 --> 00:27:35,879 Speaker 1: policy changes that address the factors driving overcrowding due to 390 00:27:35,920 --> 00:27:41,080 Speaker 1: the temporary relief expansion provides unquote. This is precisely what 391 00:27:41,119 --> 00:27:43,560 Speaker 1: we see play out here in the case of the 392 00:27:43,600 --> 00:27:47,000 Speaker 1: old prison farm, and in fact, is still an ongoing 393 00:27:47,040 --> 00:27:52,399 Speaker 1: issue in Atlanta area incarceration systems today. Since early on 394 00:27:52,520 --> 00:27:55,439 Speaker 1: in the COVID nineteen pandemic, it's been made clear that 395 00:27:55,560 --> 00:27:58,920 Speaker 1: the most effective way to mitigate the devastation of endemic 396 00:27:59,000 --> 00:28:02,600 Speaker 1: COVID nineteen prisons and jails is to reduce the number 397 00:28:02,640 --> 00:28:05,960 Speaker 1: of people behind bars. And wow, perhaps that would be 398 00:28:06,000 --> 00:28:09,360 Speaker 1: a good idea in general, not even related to this 399 00:28:09,440 --> 00:28:13,399 Speaker 1: specific pandemic. The United States locks up a larger portion 400 00:28:13,400 --> 00:28:16,320 Speaker 1: of its population than any other nation in the world, 401 00:28:16,800 --> 00:28:19,920 Speaker 1: and just the state of Georgia has the fourth largest 402 00:28:19,960 --> 00:28:24,200 Speaker 1: incarceration rate in the entire world. If you compare individual 403 00:28:24,400 --> 00:28:31,840 Speaker 1: US states to all other entire countries. Throughout only three states, 404 00:28:32,160 --> 00:28:36,800 Speaker 1: New Jersey, California, and North Carolina released a significant number 405 00:28:36,880 --> 00:28:41,480 Speaker 1: of incarcerating the people from prisons, parole boards also approved 406 00:28:41,840 --> 00:28:45,280 Speaker 1: fewer releases in the first year of the pandemic compared 407 00:28:45,320 --> 00:28:49,000 Speaker 1: to the year prior. The response of governments was so 408 00:28:49,040 --> 00:28:53,840 Speaker 1: bad that in total, fewer people were released in prisons 409 00:28:53,880 --> 00:28:59,720 Speaker 1: and jails compared to As a result, at the end 410 00:28:59,800 --> 00:29:03,040 Speaker 1: of the first year of the pandemic, nineteen state prison 411 00:29:03,080 --> 00:29:08,920 Speaker 1: systems were at nine capacity or higher. Incarcerated people are 412 00:29:09,040 --> 00:29:12,400 Speaker 1: infected by the coronavirus at a rate more than five 413 00:29:12,520 --> 00:29:16,600 Speaker 1: times higher than the nation's overall rate, according to research 414 00:29:16,920 --> 00:29:20,640 Speaker 1: reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association from 415 00:29:20,760 --> 00:29:26,200 Speaker 1: July of The reported death rate of inmates thirty nine 416 00:29:26,320 --> 00:29:29,600 Speaker 1: deaths per one hundred thousand, is also much higher than 417 00:29:29,720 --> 00:29:33,120 Speaker 1: the national rate of twenty nine deaths per one hundred thousand. 418 00:29:34,000 --> 00:29:38,560 Speaker 1: As of April sixte more than six hundred and sixty 419 00:29:38,600 --> 00:29:43,800 Speaker 1: one thousand incarcerated people and staff have been infected with coronavirus, 420 00:29:44,120 --> 00:29:47,360 Speaker 1: and at least two thousand and nine hundred and ninety 421 00:29:47,520 --> 00:29:51,400 Speaker 1: have died, according to The New York Times, and getting 422 00:29:51,480 --> 00:29:56,280 Speaker 1: data more recent than that is actually almost impossible because 423 00:29:56,440 --> 00:30:01,760 Speaker 1: many carstral agencies have simply stopped collect and releasing information. 424 00:30:02,520 --> 00:30:05,760 Speaker 1: The number of infections and deaths is likely even higher 425 00:30:05,800 --> 00:30:09,960 Speaker 1: than the reported number. Because jails and prisons are conducting 426 00:30:10,080 --> 00:30:15,480 Speaker 1: limited testing on incarcerated people, many facilities won't test incarcerated 427 00:30:15,480 --> 00:30:20,400 Speaker 1: people who die after showing symptoms of COVID nineteen. A 428 00:30:20,520 --> 00:30:23,480 Speaker 1: lack of data reporting by carstral agencies has prevented the 429 00:30:23,520 --> 00:30:26,600 Speaker 1: public from being able to understand the full impact of 430 00:30:26,640 --> 00:30:31,360 Speaker 1: the pandemic on InCAR strated persons. Organizations like the u 431 00:30:31,440 --> 00:30:34,960 Speaker 1: c l A Law, COVID nineteen Behind Bars Project, the 432 00:30:35,040 --> 00:30:38,960 Speaker 1: Martial Project, and the COVID Prison Project have been working 433 00:30:39,000 --> 00:30:41,920 Speaker 1: to collect data and information as there's been a lack 434 00:30:42,040 --> 00:30:46,000 Speaker 1: of transparency from agencies in providing adequate or correct data 435 00:30:46,160 --> 00:30:50,040 Speaker 1: on the number of cases, safety protocols, and deaths within 436 00:30:50,160 --> 00:30:55,160 Speaker 1: their jails and prisons. Many states Department of Corrections rolled 437 00:30:55,200 --> 00:30:59,320 Speaker 1: back or stopped reporting their COVID nineteen data altogether in 438 00:30:59,320 --> 00:31:04,160 Speaker 1: the summer of one, during the delta variant surge and 439 00:31:04,320 --> 00:31:08,560 Speaker 1: way before the ownercron wave that hit last winter. For example, 440 00:31:08,720 --> 00:31:13,080 Speaker 1: in Georgia, the Georgia Department of Corrections has not reported 441 00:31:13,160 --> 00:31:20,280 Speaker 1: any new COVID deaths since Marche and last year halted 442 00:31:20,360 --> 00:31:24,960 Speaker 1: all public reporting data among all the correctional systems in 443 00:31:25,000 --> 00:31:28,160 Speaker 1: the United States, the Georgia Department of Corrections has the 444 00:31:28,280 --> 00:31:32,640 Speaker 1: second highest case fatality rate or percentage of those people 445 00:31:32,720 --> 00:31:38,280 Speaker 1: who have reported infections and later die. So this has 446 00:31:38,320 --> 00:31:41,800 Speaker 1: been a problem in Georgia for a long time, whether 447 00:31:41,880 --> 00:31:45,560 Speaker 1: that be with the old Atlanta prison Farm or the 448 00:31:45,640 --> 00:31:50,320 Speaker 1: current day jail's prisons and penitentiaries. I'm going to close 449 00:31:50,320 --> 00:31:53,120 Speaker 1: out this episode with this little tidbit from one of 450 00:31:53,120 --> 00:31:56,240 Speaker 1: the conversations I had with members of the Atlanta Community 451 00:31:56,240 --> 00:32:03,720 Speaker 1: Press Collective. I think, just something that's count penuously not addressed. UM. 452 00:32:03,840 --> 00:32:06,280 Speaker 1: I know a lot of people like to focus on 453 00:32:07,160 --> 00:32:12,800 Speaker 1: positive things or more inspiring things. I guess as far 454 00:32:12,960 --> 00:32:15,280 Speaker 1: as prison stuff goes, because I know I've had people 455 00:32:15,360 --> 00:32:19,720 Speaker 1: repeatedly asked like, hey, were there strikes? Were their uprisings? 456 00:32:19,760 --> 00:32:26,680 Speaker 1: Which is really inspirational. I agree. But there's also a really, 457 00:32:26,760 --> 00:32:29,880 Speaker 1: really sad history that a lot of people aren't addressing 458 00:32:29,920 --> 00:32:34,680 Speaker 1: and how many people died by suicide here or attempted 459 00:32:35,360 --> 00:32:41,560 Speaker 1: to die by suicide, and it's really sad that no 460 00:32:41,600 --> 00:32:46,720 Speaker 1: one seems to care about that aspect that there were 461 00:32:46,760 --> 00:32:53,800 Speaker 1: horrific atrocities. There were frequent rapes and beatings. There's a 462 00:32:53,840 --> 00:32:58,840 Speaker 1: photo from the a j C that literally says black woman. 463 00:32:59,800 --> 00:33:04,000 Speaker 1: I think it's like from the forties and they are 464 00:33:04,840 --> 00:33:11,880 Speaker 1: moving around chemically infused sludge. It literally says sludge as fertilizer. 465 00:33:13,440 --> 00:33:18,480 Speaker 1: We have proof of these atrocities, and people just like 466 00:33:18,600 --> 00:33:20,760 Speaker 1: to focus on things of like, oh, hey, there was 467 00:33:20,920 --> 00:33:23,920 Speaker 1: arsenic in a lake. I've never been able to find 468 00:33:23,960 --> 00:33:26,320 Speaker 1: anything about that. I have no idea where that came from. 469 00:33:26,360 --> 00:33:29,600 Speaker 1: I'm not saying it didn't happen, but there are so 470 00:33:29,640 --> 00:33:37,800 Speaker 1: many concrete examples of horrific things that happened here. We 471 00:33:37,840 --> 00:33:41,360 Speaker 1: don't need to make up stories. They exist and they're here. 472 00:33:42,000 --> 00:33:45,320 Speaker 1: You just have to pay attention and read about it. 473 00:33:46,080 --> 00:33:52,560 Speaker 1: There's literally a woman who attempted suicide six times because 474 00:33:52,640 --> 00:33:56,320 Speaker 1: she hated being in the whole so bad. The isolated 475 00:33:56,560 --> 00:34:03,800 Speaker 1: confinement self labeled the whole like six times. And nobody 476 00:34:03,840 --> 00:34:08,960 Speaker 1: addresses this kind of stuff, even as forest offenders, like 477 00:34:09,040 --> 00:34:14,080 Speaker 1: we owe it to ourselves to educate our community about 478 00:34:15,040 --> 00:34:19,200 Speaker 1: exactly what happened here, even the worst of it, and 479 00:34:19,239 --> 00:34:21,399 Speaker 1: then we'll go fucking raid in the woods, because you've 480 00:34:21,400 --> 00:34:24,759 Speaker 1: got to take care of yourself too. But even as 481 00:34:24,800 --> 00:34:27,960 Speaker 1: we acknowledge this land, we need to know the history 482 00:34:28,000 --> 00:34:31,520 Speaker 1: of it too, that doesn't for us Today. In the 483 00:34:31,520 --> 00:34:35,000 Speaker 1: next episode will be going over the details of possible 484 00:34:35,040 --> 00:34:39,000 Speaker 1: grave sites and how further research into the prison farm 485 00:34:39,120 --> 00:34:42,840 Speaker 1: could be done, as well as more updates on the 486 00:34:42,920 --> 00:34:46,759 Speaker 1: happenings in the fight to defend the Atlanta Forest. See 487 00:34:46,760 --> 00:34:54,279 Speaker 1: you on the other side. It Could Happen Here is 488 00:34:54,320 --> 00:34:57,040 Speaker 1: a production of cool Zone Media. For more podcasts from 489 00:34:57,040 --> 00:35:00,000 Speaker 1: cool Zone Media, visit our website cool zone media dot com, 490 00:35:00,120 --> 00:35:01,839 Speaker 1: or check us out on the I Heart Radio app, 491 00:35:01,880 --> 00:35:05,200 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. You can 492 00:35:05,239 --> 00:35:07,920 Speaker 1: find sources for It Could Happen Here, updated monthly at 493 00:35:07,960 --> 00:35:11,240 Speaker 1: cool zone media dot com slash sources. Thanks for listening.