Sen. Ossoff’s 10-month bipartisan investigation last year uncovered DOJ failed to count nearly 1,000 deaths in state and local custody in 2021 alone
Sen. Ossoff presses AG Garland to make prison death data public once again, personally oversee efforts to fix problems
Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff is pressing Attorney General Merrick Garland on the Department of Justice’s failures to accurately count deaths in custody.
Last fall, Sen. Ossoff’s 10-month bipartisan investigation uncovered the DOJ failed to count at least 1,000 deaths in state and local custody in 2021 alone that had been publicly reported elsewhere.
Sen. Ossoff’s bipartisan probe found the DOJ has failed to properly implement the Death in Custody Reporting Act (DCRA), a law requiring DOJ to collect data from states about the deaths of prisoners in their custody to ensure transparency and help the Department identify potential violations of civil or human rights.
In a Senate Judiciary Committee Department of Justice oversight hearing yesterday, Sen. Ossoff pressed Attorney General Garland to fully implement the law and commit to once again making DCRA data public — which the DOJ has failed to do since 2019 but had successfully done for 20 years prior.
“One of the disturbing findings was that reporting under this statute, known as DCRA, had undercounted by at least almost 1,000 deaths, the deaths in state and local custody. In our engagements with the Department, it came to my attention, and I was dismayed that, the Department is not making DCRA data available to the public,” Sen. Ossoff said. “And I want to ask you, Attorney General, whether the Department will commit to making DCRA data available to the public?”
Sen. Ossoff later pressed Garland to commit to personally taking the matter into his portfolio to ensure it is prioritized and fixed.
“This needs to be fixed,” Sen. Ossoff said. “Folks are dying in prisons and jails. The public needs to know who’s dying, where they’re dying. You at the Department need to know who’s dying, where they’re dying, in order for you to, for example, to bring the kinds of civil rights enforcement that you’re pursuing in Georgia.”
Click here to watch Sen. Ossoff’s line of questioning.
Please find a transcript of Sen. Ossoff’s line of questioning below:
SEN. OSSOFF: “An additional investigation I led last year concerned the department’s implementation of the Death and Custody Reporting Act. And one of the disturbing findings was that reporting under this statute, known DCRA, had undercounted by at least almost 1,000 deaths, the deaths in state and local custody, and in our engagements with the Department, it came to my attention, and I was dismayed that, the Department is not making DCRA data available to the public.
“I’m going to ask unanimous consent, Mr. Chairman, that this report from the Leadership Conference and POGO titled, ‘A Matter of Life and Death: The Importance of the Death and Custody Reporting Act,’ be entered into the record.
“And I want to ask you, Attorney General, whether the Department will commit to making DCRA data available to the public?”
AG GARLAND: “So first, on the first part of your question, we’re obviously having trouble getting full reporting; this has to be voluntary on the part of the states. I believe the statute did give us some appropriations, which we’re able to use says incentives for more reporting. We’re very charged with the importance of doing that.
“I have to say I’m not familiar with the specifics of DCRA, if it provides for public reporting of the numbers we have, then we should be providing it. I don’t know whether it does or not. I just I’m not familiar with that level.”
SEN. OSSOFF: “You’ve got a lot on your plate Attorney General, I recognize that. This is a serious concern for me and for the Senate. And I did not after those investigations come away with the impression that there was sufficient attention at a high level being committed to ensuring that this is being fixed. So, will you commit to getting up to speed and taking this matter personally into your portfolio?”
AG GARLAND: “I will. You now have high level attention if you didn’t have it before.”
SEN. OSSOFF: “Good. I think we should have gotten that based upon the results of investigation last year. I appreciate that commitment today. This needs to be fixed. Folks are dying in prisons and jails. The public needs to know who’s dying, where they’re dying. You at the Department need to know who’s dying, where they’re dying, in order for you to, for example, to bring the kinds of civil rights enforcement that you’re pursuing in Georgia.”
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