ATLANTA – Clayton County Sheriff Victor Hill has been indicted on federal civil rights charges for ordering his employees to use excessive force against four pretrial detainees at the Clayton County Jail in 2020.
The indictment alleges that Hill, without any legal justification, ordered his employees to strap the detainees into a restraint chair and keep them there for hours in violation of their constitutional rights.
The indictment further alleges that Hill deprived the detainees of their due process rights because such use of force was unreasonable, amounted to punishment, and caused the detainees physical pain and bodily injury.
“While the vast majority of our law enforcement officers perform their duties bravely, professionally, and with honor, those few who abuse their power must be held accountable,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Kurt R. Erskine.
“Our constitution prohibits law enforcement officers from using unreasonable force. Without justification, Sheriff Hill allegedly ordered four detainees to be strapped into restraint chairs for hours. In so doing, he caused pain and injury to the detainees in his care. Sheriff Hill’s actions, as alleged by the Grand Jury, deprived the citizens he was sworn to protect of their civil rights. Such abuses of power not only harm the victims, they also erode the community’s trust in law enforcement,”
Victor Hill, a Clayton County Sheriff, was charged with civil rights violations.
According to the indictment, the Clayton County Sheriff’s Office’s (CCSO’s) “Inmate Restraint Chair Policy,” which was approved by Hill, states that “a restraint chair may be used by security staff to provide safe containment of an inmate exhibiting violent or uncontrollable behavior and to prevent self-injury, injury to others or property damage when control techniques are not effective.”
Consistent with the Fourteenth Amendment’s Due Process Clause, the policy emphasizes that use of a restraint chair “will never be authorized as a form of punishment.”
The indictment also alleges that Victor Hill ordered his employees to strap J.A. into a restraint chair for hours in violation of his constitutional rights. J.A. was a pretrial detainee who was arrested by Forest Park Police Department officers and CCSO deputies without incident on February 25, 2020.
Hill allegedly confronted J.A. during the booking process and ordered him to be strapped into a restraint chair for hours.
Victor Hill is facing federal civil rights charges for ordering his employees to use excessive force against four pretrial detainees at the Clayton County Jail in 2020.
Defendant/respondent: Victor Hill
Criminal charges: Federal civil rights violations
City and state: Atlanta, Georgia
Exact date: 2020
Sentence or outcome: Indicted
Dollar amounts: None
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Key Facts
- State: Georgia
- Category: Public Corruption|Violent Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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