Montgomery, Ala. – In a harsh letter sent to Governor Ivey’s Criminal Justice Study Group, the Alabamians for Fair Justice Coalition called for “independent, external observers” to be included in any new task force created to address the deadly violence in Alabama’s prisons.
Alabama Department of Corrections (ADOC) Commissioner Jeff Dunn announced earlier this month steps the department is taking to address violence in the prison system, including establishing a task force, a result of the at least 13 homicides from violence in ADOC’s facilities in 2019. The Coalition counts 27 preventable deaths in 2019 from violence, suicides, and drug overdoses.
The letter comes after Alabama’s Department of Corrections confirmed the deaths of Michael Smith (Ventress), Willie Scott (Holman), and Brandon Ladd (Bibb) from violence in December. Smith was beaten to death by correctional officers and the death of Byron Tubbs (Donaldson) is being investigated as a possible drug overdose.
The letter cites the lack of trust for prison officials to “provide meaningful oversight of the violence in their prisons and amidst their correctional officers’ ranks.”
The letter reads, “If ADOC wants to invite real oversight of its violent prisons, it must include independent, external observers in its new task force. The people of Alabama do not trust prison officials to provide meaningful oversight of the violence in their prisons and amidst their correctional officers’ ranks. They have had that option for the last several years and they have failed.”
See a copy of the letter here.
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Alabamians for Fair Justice is a coalition made up of formerly incarcerated individuals and family members of those currently or recently serving time in Alabama’s prisons, advocates, and civil justice organizations.