Fulton County, Georgia, and its sheriff’s office violated the constitutional rights of people housed at the county jail, according to a new report released Thursday by the Department of Justice.

“The Fulton County Jail fails to adequately protect inmates from substantial risk of serious harm from violence, including homicides and stabbings of other inmates,” according to a report released by the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. .

At a news conference Thursday, a senior official with the Division of Civil Rights outlined the report’s findings.

“Incarceration in the Fulton County Jail amounted to a death sentence for dozens of people who were killed or died as a result of the atrocious conditions inside the facility,” said Kristen Clarke, Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights at the DOJ. said. “Not only adults, but young people as well, are subjected to conditions and treatment that violate the constitution and defy federal law.”

The report found other problems at the prison, including excessive use of force, poor living conditions, medical care that does not meet “basic constitutional standards” and a failure to provide special education services to 17-year-olds in their custody.

Georgia is one of the few states where 17-year-olds are charged as adults, and the Justice Department found that this has exacerbated the prison’s ability to care for inmates.

“None of these problems are new. And despite widespread awareness of these problems, unconstitutional and illegal conditions have persisted,” the report said. “Vulnerable populations — including children, those who are gay or transgender, people with medical and mental health needs, and others — often bear the brunt of these conditions.”

The jail was also where President-elect Donald Trump turned himself in when was charged in Georgia for his alleged efforts to overturn the results of the state’s 2020 presidential election.

Clarke said he looks forward to working with the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office to find a solution.

U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Buchanan said at the press conference that the findings were “shocking.”

The investigation began after a the man was found dead in his prison cell in the Fulton County Jail in 2022.

“A medical examiner reported that his malnourished body was infested with an ‘enormous presence of lice’ and concluded that the man had been ‘neglected to death,'” the report said.

The report says several inmates died during the investigation, including in April 2024 when an inmate was stabbed more than 20 times.

“Violent acts by incarcerated individuals against other incarcerated individuals in the prison include murder, stabbing and sexual abuse,” the report said. “People with serious mental illness, people who identify as gay or transgender and young people are particularly vulnerable to violence in prison. Poor surveillance, classification, prison maintenance, contraband control and investigations contribute to unacceptable violence.”

Six people have died in prison since 2022, according to the report, which says “murders, stabbings and assaults are common”.

“In 2023 alone, we identified 314 stabbings and more than 8,000 assaults,” Clarke said. “The Fulton County Jail had as many stabbings in one month as the Miami Dade County Jail did all year, and that’s the facility with 1.5 times as many people as of 2022.”

Prisoners suffering from mental health conditions make up over half (62%) of the population, according to the report.

“Exacerbating the challenges facing the mentally ill population, the demand for skills restoration services has outstripped the availability of such services in Georgia,” the report states. “When people accused of violent crimes are deemed incompetent to stand trial and meet the criteria for inpatient treatment, they are often held in jail for long periods of time while awaiting placement in a state hospital.”

Data captured by the sheriff’s office may understate jail violence, the Justice Department says.

The civil rights inquiry focused on six areas: living conditions, protection from harm, use of force, medical and mental health care, and discrimination against people with mental disabilities.

The prison operates at double the bed space, leading to severe overcrowding, the report said.

Food is also troubling at the prison, according to the report, which found 90 percent of people living in the mental health facility were “significantly malnourished with obvious muscle wasting.”

Fulton County did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment.