|
|
| Employees Group Seeks to Enter Ala. Prison Overcrowding Lawsuit |
| By Associated Press |
| Published: 03/18/2003 |
|
The Alabama State Employees Association says state corrections officers' lives are at risk because there are too many inmates and not enough officers in state prisons. The employees association and the state's prison wardens are seeking to intervene in a lawsuit filed by inmates at Tutwiler Prison for women near Wetumpka. U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson has ruled in that case that Tutwiler is a 'ticking time bomb' because of overcrowded dormitories and a shortage of corrections officers. Thompson has ordered the state to come up with a plan to fix the problem. He rejected one plan turned in by the administration of former Gov. Don Siegelman and has ordered Gov. Bob Riley to come up with a new plan. Tutwiler was built in the 1940s to house 364 inmates and today has about 1,000 women prisoners. 'We have too many inmates in too few prisons with too few [officers],' employees association director Mac McArthur said at a news conference February 17 outside the federal courthouse in Montgomery. 'There must be a solution that provides better prisons with more officers, otherwise the threat to public safety will continue to hover in our back yards.' McArthur said his organization is filing a motion asking Thompson for permission to intervene in the case. He said the employees association may seek to expand the lawsuit to cover all state prisons. The state is also under order from Montgomery Circuit Judge William Shashy to remove state prisoners from county jails. Shashy recently ordered the state to use $2.4 million from the sale of prison land to provide more space for inmates and to pay for more parole hearings. At the news conference, McArthur, with corrections officers standing behind him, urged the governor and the Legislature to take immediate action to ease overcrowding. The governor's press secretary, David Azbell, said Riley has promised to give new prison commissioner Donal Campbell 'the tools and resources needed to resolve the prison crisis and lawsuit.' 'Gov. Riley understands the severity of the problem in the Department of Corrections,' Azbell said. Corrections officers at the news conference said it's not unusual in most prisons for an officer to have to watch 100 inmates or more. 'It's real dangerous because if the inmate wants to kill you or do something to you, he has the opportunity to do it everyday,' said Sgt. Velma Brewer, an officer at Bibb County Correctional Facility. |
advertise
|
privacy policy
|
add URL
|
about us
|
terms/disclaimer
|
contact us
|
join our team
|
help
The state is also under order from Montgomery Circuit Judge William Shashy to remove state prisoners from county jails. free information technology (IT) resume examples