What a jail says about America

When Donald Trump and 18 co-defendants were accused of trying to steal the 2020 presidential election in August, all eyes were on the former president.

A Georgia grand jury had indicted the 2024 presidential candidate and his allies on 41 charges of conspiracy to try to steal Georgia's electoral votes from President Joe Biden after the election. The charges for the prominent political figures were unprecedented and raised new questions about the future of American democracy.

But amid the headlines, an unlikely − but important − character may have gone unnoticed: the Fulton County Jail. This is where Trump and his fellow defendants were booked, a notorious Georgia facility known for its poor conditions and management now under state and federal investigations.

👋 Nicole Fallert here, and welcome to Your Week, our newsletter exclusively for Paste BN subscribers (that's you!). This week, we talk with Minnah Arshad about her reporting about the investigation into the overcrowded, deteriorating Georgia jail.

But first, don't miss these stories made possible by your Paste BN subscription (and keep scrolling for more headlines from Paste BN):

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A jail as a microcosm for American's problems

The Fulton County Jail tells us a lot about the problems facing the nation. The United States ranks among the highest worldwide in its dependence on incarceration, according to a 2023 study by The Sentencing Project, a Washington, D.C.-based research and advocacy center that seeks to address racial disparities in the criminal justice system.

Fulton County Jail is more than 300 over capacity, officials said at a Fulton County Board of Commissioners meeting in September. State leaders in August approved a $4 million settlement for the family of a man who died at the jail in August after being found unresponsive and covered in bug bites. And the state is now looking into the misuse of money meant to improve conditions.

"I’ve always been drawn to incarceration coverage, because I don’t think we as journalists do enough of it, even though they’re a sizeable part of our population and no less valuable," Arshad said of her work tracing the investigations into the jail − and the people within its walls.

"In some ways, Fulton County Jail represents some of the widespread dysfunction in cells across the nation," she said. " I don’t think this story is ever truly over, because it’s such a massive issue with so many factors that haven’t seemed to improve in a substantial way over the last couple decades."

Her most recent story shows the disconnect between the jail's actions and public perception. Arshad looked at how the government had been spending taxpayer dollars on things like gift cards for staff when the condition of people in the jail was so abhorrent.

What surprised Arshad while doing the reporting were the "lies and convoluted truths" at every level of governance.

"Everyone was pointing fingers at each other for the jail crisis, and hardly anyone took responsibility for their part," she said. "Seeing it at a local level reinforced the importance of educating people about the systems they hold upright with dollars and votes."

She said that as a newsroom, it's vital that Paste BN includes the stories of incarcerated people: "I think prisons and jails are out-of-sight, out-of-mind for many folks. However, our journalistic responsibility at Paste BN is to the national community as a whole, and that includes people who are incarcerated."

Read more reporting about the Fulton County Jail from Paste BN:

• New accusations about funds have come to light as documents revealed hundreds of thousands of dollars intended to improve inmate welfare was spent on things like gift cards.
• An incarcerated person died every week for five weeks this year at the Atlanta facility.
• Should officials send Fulton County inmates to other facilities?
• LaShawn Thompson, 35, was housed in the psychiatric wing of the Fulton County Jail. He was found in his cell dehydrated and malnourished, his body ''infested inside and out with insects.''
• Thompson's cause of death was undetermined. Colin Kaepernick paid for an independent autopsy.
• What's causing the troublesome deaths at Atlanta's Fulton County Jail?

Thank you

Minnah's work is a reminder to look at a story through all angles: The prism shows us perspectives we might not have seen right away. Thank you for supporting our journalism with your subscription. Our work wouldn't be possible without you. 

Best wishes, 

Nicole Fallert