NAACP issues statement on conditions inside the Macon-Bibb County Jail, demands change
- GA STATE NAACP
- Apr 23
- 1 min read
Statement on the Conditions in Macon-Bibb County Jail
We are deeply concerned about the inhumane and deteriorating conditions at the Macon-Bibb County Jail and similar facilities in our region. Reports from incarcerated individuals, their families, and legal advocates paint a disturbing picture—overcrowded cells, inadequate medical care, unsanitary living conditions, and a lack of mental health support. These are not isolated issues; they reflect a broader systemic failure in how we treat the most vulnerable members of our community.
A jail is not a sentence—it is a holding place for individuals who, in many cases, have not even been convicted of a crime. The conditions in Macon-Bibb have turned that principle on its head, punishing people with inhumane treatment long before they’ve had their day in court. This is not justice—it is a crisis.
We call on local officials, the sheriff’s department, and state leaders to take immediate and transparent action to address these violations of basic human rights. That includes independent oversight, public reporting on conditions, investment in facility improvements, and alternatives to incarceration for non-violent offenses.
Our community deserves better. Those behind bars are still our neighbors, our sons and daughters, and fellow citizens. We will not stay silent while their dignity is stripped away behind closed doors.
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Thank you to the NAACP for saying what so many of us have been screaming for years—but words alone won’t stop the abuse, the deaths, or the cover-ups happening inside the Bibb County Jail.
I spent 78 days in that hellhole on a completely bogus charge—no warrant, no probable cause, arrested in retaliation because I dared ask Captain Wilton Collins and Chief Deputy Scarbary to do their jobs and hold the people accountable who stole and totaled my car. Instead, they threw me into Block B-200 where I was:
Denied my prescribed medications for six weeks
Tased after nine hours in a holding cell with no food, no water, no phone call
Locked in my cell five straight weeks without…