At least 325 people died while incarcerated in the Alabama Department of Corrections in 2023, the highest number of deaths ever, according to data obtained by Alabama Appleseed.
“In the weeks since we began tracking prison deaths on January 1 of last year, we've seen the possibility of another record death toll this year,” said Eddie Burkhalter, a researcher at Alabama Appleseed. “I quickly realized that this was very high, and I was right.”
according to report More than 1,000 people have now died in Alabama prisons since 2019, Burkhalter said, following a Justice Department investigation that found the state's prisons unconstitutional. The Justice Department filed a lawsuit in 2020 alleging that Alabama's prisons are unconstitutional, and the case is expected to begin in November 2024.
The hundreds of deaths at ADOC facilities highlight a host of problems, from unchecked violence to the proliferation of drugs, both of which are often seen as being tasked with maintaining public order. This is the fault of the prison officers.
APR has repeatedly reported on cases in which correctional officers have been involved in assaults, arrested for drug possession, and former police officers have been convicted of assault.
Another problem is overcrowding and the lack of parole for the elderly and those in minimal supervision. That means there is a dearth of threats to people working in the societies and communities of the free world.
ADOC statistics show that many people die from “natural” causes, but this may be the case for older people, and if that is the case, the question is why are more people not being released? will occur.
At the same time, however, these statistics should be viewed with skepticism. That's because, as Burklater points out, ADOC has a history of misclassifying deaths to hide the number of violent deaths.
APR has heard from sources that violence in prisons is increasing due to overcrowding and lack of parole. In particular, the absence of parole allows individuals to adopt the attitude that they believe they have nothing to lose by committing violent acts, as there is no fear of consequences.
“Unless the Alabama Department of Corrections takes the necessary steps to rid our prisons of violent and deadly drugs and hold accountable those who prey on vulnerable people in our prisons, we will continue to see records like this continue to grow every year.” We're going to keep seeing it broken.” State lawmakers and the public need to press ADOC to take action. By doing so, we need to ensure that we never again see Makayla Mount stand in front of a room full of strangers at the age of 17 and feel the need to tell the story of losing her father. There is. Even at such a young age. ”
In December, Mount was one of more than a dozen people to speak at a public hearing of the Prison Oversight Commission. Mr Mount recounted how his father, Christopher Mount, was strangled to death in prison and described what it was like to have to wait 10 years to meet his father.
“When you see your father for the first time in 10 years and he's beaten and half of his face is gone, that's something to feel,” Mount said. “… [correctional officers] It's corrupt, the prisons are also corrupt. It's in the name, it's orthodontic. It's meant to be fixed. It's not a death sentence, it shouldn't be a death sentence, and it is. So many people die for no reason. ”
Despite Mount and other families calling for change, the violence will only escalate as the final death toll increases.
