In this Oct. 22, 2019, photo, a sign that reads, "HELP," is posted in the window of an inmate cell during a tour along with state officials at Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore, Ala. The U.S. Department of Justice filed a lawsuit Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2020, against Alabama over conditions in the state prisons, saying the state is failing to protect male inmates from inmate-on-inmate violence and excessive force at the hands of prison staff.

Alabama’s prisons will be the focus of a special session beginning Monday as lawmakers discuss building new prisons and ways to pay for them. 

Prison reform has long been a topic of the state legislature, with Gov. Kay Ivey saying the first step is to build new facilities to address overcrowding and sanitary conditions.

While individual jails around the country have been under investigation by the DOJ in the past, Alabama joins Georgia and at least two other state prison systems (Louisiana and Mississippi) currently under DOJ investigation, according to DOJ’s special litigation website.

Alabama is one of seven states in the double digits for inmate homicides reported per 100,000 state and federal prisoners, according to Bureau of Justice statistics from 2001-2018.

An average of 10 inmate homicides per 100,000 inmates were reported, though a DOJ investigation launched into the state’s prisons in 2016 found that inmate deaths were under represented; the investigation found an additional 30 inmate deaths that were not disclosed in the state’s data at the time of the investigation.

The DOJ filed a lawsuit against the state and its Department of Corrections in December 2020 alleging Alabama’s prisons for men violate the Constitution as they fail to “provide adequate protection from prisoner-on-prisoner violence and prisoner-on-prisoner sexual abuse, fails to provide safe and sanitary conditions, and subjects prisoners to excessive force at the hands of prison staff.”

The lawsuit stems from the DOJ’s investigation where the department provided the state with the minimum remedial measures necessary to address the alleged conditions and has not reached a settlement that would correct the deficiencies identified by the department’s investigation.

“The United States Constitution requires Alabama to make sure that its prisons are safe and humane,” Assistant Attorney General Eric Dreiband for the Civil Rights Division said at the time of filing the lawsuit. “The Department of Justice conducted a thorough investigation of Alabama’s prisons for men and determined that Alabama violated and is continuing to violate the Constitution because its prisons are riddled with prisoner-on-prisoner and guard-on-prisoner violence. The violations have led to homicides, rapes, and serious injuries. The Department of Justice looks forward to proving its case in an Alabama federal courtroom.”

Only two other states had a higher mortality rate among prisoners in 2018, to include illness, suicide, accident, intoxication and homicides. The state’s overall mortality rate per 100,000 inmates was 588, accord to BOJ statistics.

As it pertains to inmate prison deaths from COVID-19, Alabama has the highest —3.4% rate — in the country, according to UCLA Law’s “COVID Behind Bars Data Project.”

Hope Johnson of UCLA Law’s “COVID Behind Bars Data Project” said factors that could be driving the high fatality rate include negligence or under-detection of COVID cases.

An Alabama Department of Corrections spokesperson declined an interview request related to its correctional facilities.

Gov. Kay Ivey has called the special session for the state legislature to address prison infrastructure issues.

“I am pleased and extremely hopeful that we are finally positioned to address our state’s prison infrastructure challenges,” Ivey said. “I appreciate the hard work of the legislative leadership and the many members who have worked diligently with my team to put us in position for a bipartisan proposal. While this issue was many years in the making, we stand united to provide an Alabama solution to this Alabama problem.” 

Georgia hearings on prison reform

The DOJ recently filed lawsuit against Georgia spurred legislators there to hold a House committee meeting on the issue with state prisons.

Joshua Lester had only been at Central State Prison a short time before another inmate killed him in July.

His mother, Nancy Masters, told committee members she learned of her son’s murder via a phone call from staff at the prison in Macon.

Lester, 34, had been stabbed by an inmate with a homemade knife while trying to break up a fight, Masters said she learned at a later date. He had been serving time for a parole violation following an obstruction of an officer charge. His killer, whom Masters said was also a gang member, is in prison for murder.

“(Lester’s killer) was just walking around. He wasn’t in a separate section. … It seems they put inmates wherever they have a bed,” said Masters, who said she and her attorney will likely bring a lawsuit against the state for failure to protect, punitive damages and distress. “They need to segregate them, the murderers and other inmates. And when there is gang activity they need to do something because the guards are scared of them because it’s a big thing in the prisons.”

This is just one of many issues Masters and others have voiced as needed reforms to Georgia’s prison system, which is under investigation by the Department of Justice.

Neglect, insufficient inmate protection

Jennifer Bradley testified during the Georgia House Committee on Crisis in Prisons hearing Sept. 23 about her son’s March 2020 death.

Carrington Brye was stabbed to death a few months before he was set to be released from Macon State Prison. He bled out waiting nearly 30 minutes for a “critically limited crew.”

“For the most part he was strong, but there were some things he couldn’t help but to speak about, like once hearing screams and later finding out someone was raped … ignored and extremely delayed medical calls … having to take showers with a man guarding the door with a knife … being served food that wasn’t even fit enough to be tossed in a pig’s sty … or being summoned by words like, ‘Hey, you inmate,’” Bradley said.

Justin Wilkerson, who had mental health diagnoses, had attempted suicide several times before being killed by his cellmate at Smith State Prison in January, said Stephanie Lee, his mother.

She was aware of several violent instances against her son, including hearing from inmates that officers took Wilkerson outside and had his roommate assault him.

“In other states, there are laws to protect first offenders from being placed in close cells with lifers. I would like to advocate for the change in honor of my son. The Georgia Department of Corrections failed to protect Justin and placed him directly in harm’s way,” Lee said.

Lee added the GDC failed to address his mental health needs by not getting him his proper medication, adding that Wilkerson’s autopsy showed no traces of his prescribed anti-psychotic medication.

Testimony continued painting a picture of neglect and lack of care for inmates, including one witness who revealed a female inmate was so desperate for medical attention post-pregnancy that she cut out her own stitches with fingernail clippers. Witnesses attributed much of the neglect and lack of protection to the lack of adequate staffing.

Staffing Issues

In a 2020 GDC report, the agency noted that retaining correctional officers continued to be a challenge, noting that two-thirds of the agency’s separations were correctional officers, resulting in a 43% increase in correctional officer turnover. Correctional officers, in general, supervise and monitor inmates to ensure rules and protocols are being enforced.

In response to an email from CNHI News, a spokesperson for Georgia GDC stated the average pay for a correctional officers in its facilities is $36,244. The department declined an interview request and initially invited emailed questions.

However, after CNHI emailed questions relating to correctional officer protocols, evaluations, etc., the department declined email responses, stating the questions related to the active Department of Justice investigation into the Georgia prison system.

A correctional officer at Arrendale State Prison testified on staffing issues anonymously via phone at the prison committee hearing by way of State Rep. Josh McLaurin, D-Sandy Springs.

“When it comes to medical care, we lack the ability to get them to our medical facility due to the fact that we lack the number of officers to get them up there and also because we don’t have enough medical staff to be able to treat all of them,” the officer said. “Recently I was assigned to look after 400 inmates to myself. … Practically speaking, you can’t (respond to any incidents that may occur). In those kind of situations, you have to take into consideration your own safety against their safety.”

From 2001-18, 75 inmate deaths reported in Georgia’s state and federal prisons were attributed to homicide, according to Bureau of Justice statistics. In 2020-21 alone, more than 40 inmates deaths have been attributed to murder or suspected murder.

The Southern Center for Human Rights sent a letter to DOJ in September 2020 asking the department to investigate the prisons’ “deplorable” conditions, referencing the increasing murder and suicide rates, and neglect of persons with psychiatric disabilities.