Georgia senators want mental health funding and staffing to address prison deaths

ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia lawmakers should consider expanding mental health services, staffing and de-escalation training to address deaths and neglect at state prisons, a panel of lawmakers said last week.The panel voted Friday for recommendations for the Georgia legislature to consider when it convenes in January. Two months ago, the Justice Department said it would sue if state prison officials didn’t act swiftly to curb the violations of prisoners’ Eighth Amendment protections against cruel punishment. And Georgia prisons are on track to set another record for homicides in 2024, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.State Rep. Matt Hatchett, a Republican from Dublin who chairs the House Appropriations Committee, confirmed he supports spending money to curb the violence and increasing single-cell facilities but he does not think that all facilities need to be single-cell, as the report suggests.Lawmakers rejected DeKalb County Democratic State Sen. Kim Jackson’s proposal to create an independent oversight committee. Republicans argued there is already oversight through legislative committees.“Hours and hours and hours of testimony that we heard over the course of the study committee indicated there was a clear lack of oversight over the Department of Corrections,” Jackson said. “Public testimony also shows that people felt like they did...