A new complaint by the U.S. Department of Justice against the Alabama prison system says conditions have not improved since the DOJ alleged constitutional violations against the state in April 2019.
“In the two and a half years following the United States’ original notification to the State of Alabama of unconstitutional conditions of confinement, prisoners at Alabama’s Prisons for Men have continued daily to endure a high risk of death, physical violence, and sexual abuse at the hands of other prisoners,” the DOJ said in the complaint on Friday signed by U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland. It’s the second amended complaint in the lawsuit brought in December 2020 under former U.S. Attorney William Barr.
“The unconstitutional conditions are pervasive and systemic across all 13 Alabama’s Prisons for Men covered by this Complaint, as indicated by facility-level data and as illustrated by examples of the violence, sexual abuse, excessive force, and unsafe physical conditions,” the DOJ said.
The state is fighting the allegations in court. Lawyers for the state have acknowledged problems with the prison system but deny the charges of constitutional violations and have said the state was negotiating in good faith on improvements when DOJ filed the lawsuit.
The latest DOJ complaint came in response to an order by U.S. District Judge David Proctor for the DOJ to be more specific in its allegations. Proctor, agreeing with a point made by Alabama’s lawyers, called DOJ’s earlier complaint a “shotgun pleading.”
Unchanged from the original lawsuit are the claims that the Alabama Department of Corrections fails to protect the men it incarcerates from violence and sexual abuse by other prisoners, from excessive force by correctional officers, and that it fails to provide safe and sanitary housing.
The new complaint adds specifics about the poor condition of Alabama’s prison buildings, which was mostly missing from the earlier complaints. The state does not deny those problems. The ADOC and Gov. Kay Ivey have said the prison buildings are failing and that some are beyond repair. In October, the Legislature approved a plan to build two 4,000-bed men’s prisons at a cost of $1.3 billion and to phase out some of the 13 men’s prisons. Construction is expected to start next year and to take about three years.
The new DOJ complaint makes no mention of the state’s plan for new prisons.
It does reiterate concerns about overcrowding and understaffing. As of the end of September, the ADOC had 14,250 inmates in prisons designed for 9.462. The overcrowding would be worse if not for restrictions on admitting state custody inmates from county jails because of COVID-19.
The most crowded prisons were Staton at 265% of capacity, Bibb at 193%, and Kilby at 180%. Bullock, Donaldson, Easterling, Elmore, Fountain, and Ventress prisons were all at 147% or more.
The ADOC has about one-half the number of correctional officers needed, the DOJ said, a problem that has persisted for years.
The DOJ said there were at least 58 men killed by other prisoners in Alabama prisons from fiscal years 2015 through 2021. There were 10 homicides in 2018, when the rate was more than seven times the national average. There were 14 in 2019 and at least nine in 2020, the DOJ said.
The DOJ said that although the ADOC reports no inmate-on-inmate homicides in calendar year 2021 in its monthly statistical reports, the media and advocates have reported at least 10. The ADOC does not include in its numbers deaths that are still under investigation.
The DOJ lists seven inmate homicides in 2021 in its latest complaint:
- In October 2021, a 31-year-old prisoner was stabbed to death by another prisoner at Donaldson.
- In October 2021, a 34-year-old prisoner was stabbed to death by another prisoner at Bibb.
- In July 2021, a 39-year-old prisoner was stabbed to death by another prisoner at Fountain.
- In June 2021, a 40-year-old prisoner was stabbed to death by another prisoner at Bullock.
- In May 2021, a 58-year-old prisoner was choked to death at Limestone.
- In February 2021, a 31-year-old prisoner was smothered to death at Donaldson.
- In January 2021, a 38-year-old prisoner was stabbed to death by another prisoner at St. Clair.
Related: 3 men killed in Alabama prisons as state faces Justice Department lawsuit
Among the other inmate homicides in the latest DOJ report:
In November 2020, a 48-year-old prisoner at Bullock died of blunt force trauma. Toxicology tests indicated the presence of synthetic cannabinoid in the decedent’s blood.
In June 2020, a 38-year-old prisoner died after being assaulted by another prisoner at Donaldson. Toxicology reports also indicated the presence of methamphetamine in the prisoner’s system. The coroner was unable to determine whether the assault, drug use, or a combination of both was the cause of death.
In October 2019, a 53-year-old prisoner at Donaldson died after being strangled to death. A note was found on the prisoner indicating that he feared for his life because another prisoner had ordered a “hit” on him.
In June 2019, a 29-year-old prisoner died after being stabbed in the chest at Fountain.