COLUMBIA, S.C. — The U.S. Department of Justice is launching a federal civil rights investigation into the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center in Columbia and the Al Cannon Detention Center in Charleston, alleging the jails are violating inmates' civil rights.
The agency, along with U.S. Attorney for South Carolina Adair Boroughs, announced separate probes into the facilities Thursday afternoon after saying they'd gotten multiple reports of violations, finding "significant justification" to open the investigations.
"People confined in local jails across our country do not abandon their civil an and constitutional rights at the jailhouse door," said Assistant U.S. Attorney General Kristen Clarke for the U.S. Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division.
The department says it received credible allegations that incarcerated persons have died from use of force, gross medical neglect or suicide in the Sheriff Al Cannon Detention Center. The department also received credible allegations that the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center is structurally unsafe and that there have been sexual assaults, homicides, and prevalent violence resulting in serious injuries.
The agency said there have been six known deaths at Alvin S. Glenn since February of last year. Specifically, the agency pointed to the February 2022 death of Lason Butler and the January 2023 death of Antonious Randolph. The coroner said Butler died of dehydration, and his death was ruled a homicide. Randolph was attacked and killed by a group of inmates after the Justice Department said doors were left unlocked.
The Justice Department also said it got reports that their bodies weren't found for a significant period after their deaths.
Clarke said there have been 16 stabbings or assaults, two escapes, and two alleged rapes at the jail. In May and June alone, nine people were injured in violent incidents, the agency said. Additionally, they said there have been concerns about the physical conditions at the jail, including reports of rats and mold.
The Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center is operated by the County Administrator, who hires a jail administrator to do the day-to-day running of the facility.
Richland County Attorney Patrick Wright said the county welcomed the investigation and would cooperate fully. Richland County Administrator Leonardo Brown told reporters Thursday that the council has allocated funding to increase staffing and upgrade facilities. Brown committed to holding individuals responsible for any wrongdoing uncovered and blamed some violence on gang members who continue their “activity" behind bars.
"We are fully committed to the safety, security and well-being of detainees and employees at the Alvin. S. Glenn Detention Center," Brown said.
At the Charleston jail, the Department of Justice said there had been problems with inmates' access to medical care, use of solitary confinement, and discrimination and called out the January 2021 death of Jamal Sutherland, who was tasered and pepper-sprayed. Sutherland had mental health issues. And in December of 2022, Deangelo Brown died after spending months in isolation. He, too, had severe mental illness, and Clarke said the jail failed to give him psychiatric medication.
Overall, there have been eight deaths at Charleston's jail.
Boroughs said she's heard for months of the problems, including directly from victim's families, and said to the families that they will seek justice for them. "Today we say we hear you," Boroughs said.
The Strom Law Firm, which represents the family of Butler, issued a statement after hearing of the investigation which said in part, "Time and again, Richland County has refused to act. Now it's the Department of Justice's turn. This investigation is about more than any single incident or the four walls of Alvin S Glenn. It's about holding the powerful accountable when they treat citizens like they're less than human. It's about justice."