This Week Injustice- April 14, 2024

Budget buster edition

Yellow Iris in a Birmingham neighborhood.

Hello and I hope your Sunday is as sunny as the yard down the street.

This week Alabama’s Senate passed a record general fund budget with the gut busting number of $3.3 billion for fiscal year 2025.

This makes me wince, not because it’s such an astronomical amount, $300 million more than this year’s budget, but because a sizable chunk will go to our failing prison system. ADOC’s share of the $3.3 billion is $733 million, or 22 percent of our state’s general fund budget.

Think about this. This agency is so screwed up, it has locked horns with the feds rather than implement reforms to stop record violence, suicides, homicides and overdoses.

Prison leaders and lawmakers won’t even admit the problems exist, despite horror after horror laid out in plain facts by the U.S. Department of Justice and happening inside the prisons as often as chow and pill call.

Overcrowding is growing worse by the month, but the legislature won’t even pass a sentencing reform bill impacting the tiniest group of elderly prisoners. And yet, lawmakers continue to increase this agency’s budget year after year after bloody year.

They’ve thrown more money toward ADOC every year I’ve covered this crisis, since 2012, while the disaster grows more dire and deadly. This year’s increase is more than 10 percent larger than last year’s.

Along with the budget, a supplemental bill funnels even more money to prison construction, $400 million more. Budget committee chairman Sen. Greg Albritton, a Republican from Atmore, whose district is one of two slated for a new mega-prison, said, “We’re going to be taking another huge step in getting our obligations to the prisons done.”

What obligations? Certainly not any of the dozens of suggested remedies laid out by the DOJ, like rooting out staff corruption and improving internal investigations. Because nothing has gotten done in those areas.

The commitment he refers to isn’t about improving the lives of prisoners or decreasing suffering and harm or creating a more rehabilitative environment through better hiring, training and programming.

The obligation was laid out by Governor Kay Ivey to build new prisons, and now Alabama is on the hook to construction companies who keep jacking up the cost. That’s our obligation. And guess what? We’ve tried this before and it didn’t work.

In the two decades between 1978-1998, Alabama went on a prison building spree, constructing eight new facilities with the promise that these modern prisons would wipe out the state’s legacy of abuse. In twenty years, the state built and opened Staton, St. Clair, Donaldson, Limestone, Bullock, Ventress, Easterling and Bibb.

We all know what happened as a result. The only thing this prison building binge accomplished was expanding harm. And that’s where we are headed once again.

I don’t have all the answers, but I know this isn’t it. Not this. It’s enough to say, not this. We have to figure out something better than just throwing money at ADOC and construction companies. That makes no sense.

Here’s a look at the rest of the stories about injustice in Alabama this week. Be well.

ADOC & PAROLES

In the latest horror suffered by people incarcerated in Alabama prisons, an Alex City work release van crash killed two men and left five others injured. 

Update on the case of missing organs from bodies of people who died in ADOC custody. New lawsuits claim an agreement between ADOC and UAB gives the commissioner authority to permit autopsies and removal of organs. 

Well-reported account of what happened in a 2.5-hour parole hearing for an 85-year old man. Miraculously, he was granted parole in a 2-1 vote with chairwoman Leigh Gwathney, of course, voting no after grilling attorneys in disbelief that the victim’s mother actually supported parole.

Former Limestone County sheriff jailed on ethics conviction was granted parole in a packed hearing by a 2-1 vote by the board. Board chair Leigh Gwathney said she wanted him to spend more time in jail. 

Job fair designed to connect people on parole with employment scheduled for April 18 in Huntsville. 

LEGISLATIVE SESSION

Woospies! Republican Matt Simpson (a no vote on the second chance bill) hasn’t been following the ethics law that he’s trying to rewrite. This is a must read. 

Senate committee approves a bill that would restart medical marijuana licensing rollout for the third time. 

A bill intended to allow local police and sheriffs to get involved in immigration enforcement stalls in House, sent to subcommittee for more work. Immigrant advocates are speaking out against this bill. 

A bill addressing medical parole was delayed and referred to a subcommittee for review. HB 299 sponsored by Chris England, would allow parole board members to give weighed consideration to a person’s age and medical condition when making parole decisions. 

A bill being considered this session to tighten up Alabama’s abysmal open records law won approval in the Senate committee. SB 270, sponsored by Republican Arthur Orr of Decatur would add much needed timelines to the law. 

POLICING/CRIME

“Don’t pay attention to what I say in the media. Fuck the public.” Mobile’s police chief out, accused by officers of behaving like an organized crime boss. He spoke to supporters this weekend, calling the whole thing a smear campaign. 

What would stop gun violence in Alabama? This is a great piece giving voice to victims and advocates, including supporters of HB 36, sponsored by Democrat Phillip Ensler, which targets possession of gun converters, that turn a handgun into a machine gun. 

Tuscaloosa police update their body cam policy after an undercover officer shot and killed 24-year old Tristan Clark in December. 

Judge over criminal case against two Atmore journalists orders both sides to be prepared to argue their case next month, hearing set for May 16. Prosecutors want to punish the journalists for publishing information from a grand jury hearing. 

Fight between two men being held at the Etowah County jail sends one to the hospital. 

Montgomery’s police chief Darryl Albert was placed on leave, no reason given. The mayor said the reason will be announced when the matter is concluded. This comes after a former officer complained she was discriminated against for not having an affair with Albert, but it’s not clear if that’s the reason behind the leave. 

OTHER NEWS

State mental health services via telehealth expand into rural communities via federal grant. 

The Guardian covered new research that shows nearly half of U.S. prisons have water contaminated with toxic chemicals.