When disgraced ex-president Donald Trump and his cabal of co-conspirators turn themselves in to authorities in Atlanta, Georgia, as required by August 25, they might not get the cushy celeb treatment he experienced with his previous three indictments. The Fulton County Sheriff’s Office expects to book all 19 defendants accused of conspiring to overturn the election results in Georgia at Fulton County Jail—a detention center that is infamously filthy, infested, and overcrowded.
More commonly known as the Rice Street Jail, the dangerously dirty facility has had dozens of inmate deaths in recent years, including two in recent weeks. In July, the U.S. Justice Department launched an investigation into the “allegations of unsafe, unsanitary living conditions,” prompted by the death of an inmate who appeared to have been eaten alive by bed bugs and other insects.
Whether or not Trump himself will be booked at Fulton County Jail is ultimately up to the Secret Service, but local law enforcement seems unlikely to do anything beyond the bare minimum to meet the security requirements of the incoming VIP (Very Important Perp). The Fulton County Sheriff’s Office told media sources this week that it plans to treat the 19 defendants like anyone else during booking, which would normally include mugshots, medical screening, fingerprinting, and sometimes a stint in a holding cell. Still, the sheriff’s office warned that procedures could change based on the extraordinary nature of the case.
Alas, it seems unlikely we’ll get to see Trump or his cronies in a cell quite yet, but that has not stopped right-wing media sources from freaking out about the possibility. Judging by screenshots posted on the site formerly known as Twitter, Fox News appears to have discovered the deplorable state of the U.S. prison system for the very first time.
Of course, similarly dangerous and squalid conditions exist in prisons across the country, a grim reality that critics of the country’s broken and racist justice system have been trying to draw attention to for years. Now that one of their own is uncomfortably close to imprisonment, might the Fox News crowd come out for prison reform?
This wouldn’t be the first time a widespread problem only gained attention after the privileged faced it themselves. Several January 6 defendants drew attention to D.C. prison conditions after complaining about the smell of sewage, violent beatings, and cockroaches so thick it looked like the floor was moving. The city’s predominantly Black prison population has been subjected to these conditions for decades, but it wasn’t until these white defendants experienced them that reform efforts took off. The U.S. Marshals Service investigated, and hundreds of federal detainees were moved.
Hey, if putting corrupt politicians and white collar criminals behind bars is what it takes to bring about progress on prison reform for everyone else, lock ’em up! After appropriate due process adhering to all of their constitutional rights, of course.
(featured image: Megan Varner, Getty Images)
