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| Report alleges prisoner abuse at Tutwiler |
| By atmorenews.com - BOB MARTIN |
| Published: 05/31/2012 |
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Alabama -- Julia Strudwick Tutwiler (1841-1916) was an educator, prison reformer, writer and an outspoken proponent of education for women. She was involved with the founding of institutions that became the University of West Alabama and the University of Montevallo and with innovations in education for women and African Americans during segregation. Alabama’s only women’s prison in Wetumpka bears her name, as do several other public buildings in the state; her poem “Alabama” is immortalized as the official state song. To say that Julia Tutwiler is doing flips in her grave is likely an understatement after a report was issued last week saying that corrections officers at Tutwiler Prison sexually harass, abuse and even rape female inmates with little fear of punishment. Female inmates at Tutwiler have reported becoming pregnant after being raped by male correctional staff over the past five years, said Bryan Stevenson, executive director of the Montgomery-based Equal Justice Initiative (EJI), which investigated the allegations and issued a report. Other sexual misconduct, including pervasive harassment, unwanted touching and invasion of privacy, is commonplace, Stevenson says. Brian Stevenson is no rookie when it comes to investigating abuse of individual civil rights in Alabama and across the entire country. He has won national acclaim for his work challenging bias against the poor and people of color in the criminal justice system. Since graduating from Harvard Law School and the Harvard School of Government, he has assisted in securing relief for dozens of condemned prisoners, advocated for poor people and developed community-based reform litigation aimed at improving the administration of criminal justice. Consensual sex between staff and inmates is strictly forbidden by prison regulations, but is also a regular occurrence, with staff requiring women to perform sexual favors in exchange for smuggled contraband goods, the EJI report found. “What we found is pretty shocking,” Stevenson said this week. “We think there’s widespread sex abuse and assaults of women by correctional staff.” Tutwiler, which holds more than 700 inmates, was identified by the Department of Justice in 2007 as the most dangerous women’s prison in the country. Kim Thomas, the Alabama Department of Corrections commissioner, told the media that the agency was aware of the allegations. “This is a matter of grave concern to me,” Thomas said in a statement. “Sexual misconduct of any kind, including custodial sexual misconduct, is not tolerated by this department.” Thomas did not address any of the specific allegations in the EJI report which addresses several problems including allegations that inmates who reported sexual abuse by guards to senior corrections staff, including the warden, say they were placed in solitary confinement, lost privileges and were subjected to verbal abuse. Editor's note: Corrections.com author Bryan Avila started working as a Police Officer in 1994 while attending Norwich University in Northfield, VT. In 1999 he began working for the Vermont Dept of Corrections while still working as a Part-Time Police Officer. In 2007 he left public service until 2009 when he began working for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. He is currently a Correctional Training Instructor- Sergeant of Correctional Officers, at the TDCJ Region I Training Academy located in Huntsville, TX. Read More. |
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