The United States Department of Justice has announced a statewide investigation into assaults on inmates within all of Georgia Prisons.

Last week, the department said it would examine whether Georgia provides prisoners reasonable protection from physical harm at the hands of other prisoners., specifically focusing on inmates of a nontraditional lifestyle.

U.S. Acting Attorney David Estes for the southern district of Georgia said, (quote) “We look forward to working with the State of Georgia, the Georgia Department of corrections, the civil rights division of the Department of Justice, and our counterparts in the U.S. Attorney’s offices for the Northern and Middle District of Georgia to further our shared mission to keep correctional facilities safe for the sake of our community, the prisoners housed there, and the dedicated staff who work there.”

The investigation will be conducted under the civil rights of Institutionalized Persons Act. Under this Act, the department of has the authority to investigate whether any violations or prisoners’ constitutional rights result I n a pattern or practice of resistance of the inmate. The Department of Justice has conducted similar investigation of correctional system, and where violations were found, reform has been implemented.

State overseen facilities within the immediate area include Georgia State Prison, Rogers State Prison, Montgomery State Prison, Smith State Prison, Wheeler Correctional Facility.

In other news, two local football games were affected by guns Friday night. Friday morning, the Treutlen County/Johnson County football game scheduled to be played in Wrightsville was canceled because of a credible threat of gunfire. And in Swainsboro, actual gunshots were fired following the Swainsboro High School football game in the parking lot following altercation. There were no reports of injuries.