![]() ![]() ![]() Seven of Alabama’s Prisons for Men have total staff vacancy rates in excess of 50 percent, and all have at least 25 percent of staff positions vacant.”ĪDOC also hasn’t been able to control contraband, which is resulting in mounting overdose deaths, according to the complaint. “The overall number of supervisors has decreased. “As of the third quarter of 2020, ADOC had filled 1,322 of 3,326 positions for correctional officers,” the DOJ wrote. The report noted that a recent court order shows that fewer than half of ADOC’s staff positions are filled. Inadequate staffing is driving the violence, the DOJ wrote. “In August 2020, a prisoner at Easterling was taken to an outside hospital with serious burn wounds when another prisoner microwaved a mixture of baby oil, shaving powder, and coffee granules and poured it on the victim’s face and body while he was sleeping,” the DOJ wrote. Graph courtesy Alabama Political ReporterĪcts of violence between incarcerated men continue to increase as well, and ADOC has failed to curb instances of extortion and violence over drugs, the complaint says. ADOC officials confirmed both deaths resulted from prisoner assaults in public news reporting, but they are not reflected in ADOC’s monthly statistical reports.” Clair was stabbed to death in an open dormitory. “Additionally, in February 2021, a 38-year-old prisoner at St. For example, in November 2020, a 48-year-old prisoner at Bullock was beaten and stabbed to death,” the complaint states. “ADOC’s statistical reports do not reflect all deaths from prisoner-on-prisoner homicides. The victim was due to be released the next day,” the DOJ wrote in the complaint, referring to the stabbing death of Ian Rettig, first reported by the Alabama Political Reporter.įrom 2015 to 2020, the number of prisoner-on-prisoner homicides increased by more than 200 percent, from five to 16 homicides, although ADOC is also underreporting instances of homicides inside state prisons, misclassifying some and simply not reporting others at all, the DOJ notes: “In May 2021, a 23-year-old prisoner was stabbed to death by another prisoner at Fountain. The victim was due to be released the next day. In May 2021, a 23-year-old prisoner was stabbed to death by another prisoner. Attorney General Merrick Garland - describes the pattern of violence in Alabama’s prisons for men as “pervasive and systemic” and explains the state has failed to address the deep-seated problems since being notified in 2019. The DOJ in the amended complaint - signed by U.S. “In the two years following the United States’ original notification to the State of unconstitutional conditions of confinement, prisoners at Alabama’s Prisons for Men have continued daily to endure a substantial risk of serious harm, including death, physical violence, and sexual abuse at the hands of other prisoners,” the amended complaint reads. The original complaint followed DOJ reports released in April and July of 2019 that detailed systemic use of excessive force within Alabama’s prisons, and that Alabama’s prisons for men were likely violating inmates’ rights to protection from sexual abuse and physical harm. The amended complaint includes updated deaths and instances of violence and removes one Alabama prison listed in the original complaint: Hamilton Aged and Infirmed Correctional Facility. Last week, the Justice Department filed an amended complaint, in a December 2020 lawsuit against the state of Alabama and ADOC, which alleged violations of inmates’ constitutional rights to protection from prisoner-on-prisoner violence, sexual abuse and excessive force by prison guards. Department of Justice in an amended complaint says the Alabama Department of Corrections (ADOC) and its leadership continue to fail to protect incarcerated men from physical and sexual violence and death, despite years of warnings from the federal government. ![]()
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