A prison corridor in Holman Correctional Facility in 2019. (File)
Legislators pleaded with staff from the Alabama Department of Corrections to address the ongoing safety concerns within its prisons, while approving payments to attorneys to represent employees accused of fostering a dangerous culture and environment.
“I know I have said this before, but you know, I have gotten another call from another constituent where the son was beat up because the gangs are running our prisons, and the prison guards are bringing the drugs to the gang members, and the cell phones,” said Rep. Chris Pringle, R-Mobile. “These people call me, and they are crying their eyes out because they got a videotape of their son who had just been raped or beaten up.”
Members of the Contract Review Committee approved two legal services contracts for Wallace, Jordan, Ratliff & Brandt, LLC, paying the Birmingham firm $400,000 to represent corrections officers and administrators in two ongoing cases.
Albert Jordan will be paid by the state to defend the DOC and its employees against a civil rights complaint filed by Frankie Johnson, which states that he was repeatedly victimized while in the DOC custody.
According to the complaint, Johnson was incarcerated at Donaldson Correctional Facility in Bessemer alongside his adversaries, including one who had assaulted him previously at another prison. In December 2019, Johnson was stabbed at least nine times from as many as 13 people housed at Donaldson.
The complaint also states that Johnson was then stabbed repeatedly by another person in March of 2020 when he was restrained with shackles and handcuffs during a therapy session.
“Dangerous conditions” that were “well known” to prison staff led to Johnson’s serious injuries, the lawsuit states, and they “exhibited deliberate indifference to his safety and failed to protect him.”
Jordan will also represent Gwendolyn Givens, warden at the Donaldson prison in 2021. Elizabeth McElroy, a personal representative of Kenneth Cedrick Gilchrist Jr. filed a lawsuit on his behalf. He died in October 2021 after he was stabbed by another inmate.
Gilchrist had pleaded with staff for medical attention for at least an hour, according to the lawsuit, but staff never took Gilchrist to the medical unit.
Unsafe conditions in the state’s prisons come from not only continued violence but also from overcrowding and inadequate number of corrections officers, according to criminal justice reform advocates.
The legislative committee also approved two architectural and design contracts for renovations and upgrades to Alabama prisons to bring them into compliance with the American with Disabilities Act. Those went to Goodwyn Mills Cawood, LLC, and JMR+H Architecture PC, both based in Montgomery.
Work became necessary because of a court order stemming from a lawsuit filed against the DOC, alleging that the health care is inadequate for people with disabilities who are incarcerated.
Overall, more than 300 people died in 2023 while in DOC custody. Lawmakers took some initial steps to address the situation in the most recent legislative session. SB 322, sponsored by Sen. Clyde Chambliss, established several positions focused on communicating with constituents about the status of their loved ones who are incarcerated in prisons.
The bill — which cleared the legislature and has been signed by the governor — was the result of public hearings that legislators hosted allowing people in the public to speak about the experiences of those currently incarcerated.
“Please, God, we have to do something to protect these prisoners,” Pringle said during Thursday’s meeting. “It is insane what is going on in our prison system.”
Sen. Dan Roberts, R-Mountain Brook, said that another meeting is planned in July to hear from the public about additional concerns.
“I am hopeful that we are making progress here,” he said.
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