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| Ala. Inmates' Families Organize to Deal with Out-of-state Transfers |
| By Associated Press |
| Published: 04/24/2003 |
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Families of some Alabama inmates transferred to Louisiana lockups to relieve overcrowding at the state women's prison have begun organizing. About 40 friends and relatives of prisoners met in Montgomery and exchanged concerns about the unprecedented transfers. 'Are we stuck in Louisiana? What do we do now?' asked James Buckhalt, whose daughter, Michelle Bankston, 35, was in the first group transferred April 13. Bankston was scheduled to begin taking college classes by correspondence in the fall, her father said. But her education is on hold now that she's in Louisiana. 'All of you have a voice, and have a political voice. There are 27,000 people incarcerated in Alabama,' said Vanessa Filley, an investigator with the Southern Center for Human Rights told the group Thursday night. 'Everyone connected to them has a political voice.' The Atlanta-based nonprofit law firm won an early court victory in its efforts to reform the Tutwiler prison for women in Wetumpka. A federal judge in December declared Tutwiler unconstitutionally unsafe and ordered the state to remedy the dangerous overcrowding, after SCHR sued the state. Additional parole officers were hired to speed up paroles. But the most significant response has been the transfers to a southwest Louisiana prison about 500 miles from Tutwiler. About 140 women have been sent so far. Eventually 290 female inmates will be bused to the private prison run by LCS Corrections Services. The SCHR staff encouraged prisoners' families to lobby the Legislature and work for further reforms. They plan to meet again Saturday for a workshop in Montgomery. Several years ago, a similar group of family members organized Georgians for Equal Justice. The group began with 12 people and has grown to more than 400, Filley said. The Montgomery meeting included discussions on how to reach lawmakers and how to confront political heavyweights in the victims' rights movement. A major challenge for the group is convincing Alabamians that prisoners deserve decent treatment. |
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