ACLU Urges Water Testing At Cobb County Jail

COBB COUNTY, GA—The American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia is urging the Cobb County Sheriff’s Office to conduct a full investigation into possible water contamination at the Cobb County Detention Center.

According to the AJC, on Saturday, an inmate notified jail staff that water in one of the housing pods had a “slight odor.” Sheriff’s office staff immediately relocated 25 inmates to another housing area.

Sheriff Neil Warren told the newspaper that “inmates will not be returned to the housing area pending water quality test results.”

The ACLU is asking the sheriff's office to also perform appropriate comprehensive medical exams of each person who may have been infected after consuming toxins in the water.

In a statement, the ACLU of Georgia says it seeks to learn whether the water at the detention center was or remains contaminated with "unsafe and potentially lethal toxins."

“A failure to remedy this alleged water contamination exposes the sheriff’s office to liability under the U.S. Constitution,” said Kosha Tucker, staff attorney of the ACLU of Georgia. “Everyone in this community should be alarmed over the inhumane and unacceptable conditions at the jail.”

Safe, clean water for drinking, cooking, and hygiene is not only a basic human right but also a constitutional right under the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution, the ACLU's statement goes on to read.

In the meantime, Sheriff Neil has criticized the ACLU in the Cobb County Courier for manufacturing a crisis that he says just really isn't there.

“Once again the ACLU is spinning a narrative of crisis and conflict when in fact a minor plumbing issue was repaired, inmates were moved as a precaution and additional validation of water quality is being sought,” Sheriff Neil Warren said. “Our staff does a tremendous job everyday and having the ACLU trying to cause unwarranted alarm within our community and inmates does more harm than good.”

According to the sheriff's office, the county manager and commissioners were all notified and aware of actions taken by the sheriff's office, and there have been no other issues resulting from this report.