In the coming days, Donald Trump will turn himself in to police in Georgia. His initial brush with the local criminal justice system is expected to last just hours – most other defendants are not so lucky.
Authorities announced on Wednesday that Mr Trump and his fellow 18 defendants are “expected” to be booked at the Fulton County Jail in Atlanta before being arraigned at the courthouse, though they warned “circumstances may change”.
He must appear by 25 August to face charges of trying to overturn the result of the 2020 election in the state.
The local sheriff, Pat Labat, has said that officials will follow “normal practices” when processing Mr Trump.
But experts said he will probably have a very different experience from those who languish in the county’s notoriously unsafe jail for weeks, months or even years while awaiting trial.
Built in 1985 to house around 1,300 inmates, Fulton County Jail has held more than 3,000 people in recent years.
The jail provides “unhygienic living conditions” that have led to outbreaks of Covid-19, lice and scabies, a report by the Southern Center for Human Rights said. It found inmates were “significantly malnourished” and dealing with a condition called cachexia, also known as wasting syndrome.
Waiting in these dilapidated conditions has proven deadly for some.
Read more at BBC.com
What Are Your Thoughts?
