A large share of Alabama prisoners have returned to work after a week-long protest saw inmates present a list of demands regarding the state’s criminal justice system.
This week, Alabama Department of Corrections spokesperson Kelly Betts said five of 15 major state incarceration facilities were still experiencing issues.
“All facilities remain operational and critical services have been maintained. However, these work stoppages have affected food services the most given that inmate workers make up a large part of the facility support workforce,” said Betts, according to Alabama Media Group.
Last week, prisoners protested the state’s criminal justice system by refusing to perform work-related duties. According to the inmates, the state has partaken in a “systematic denial of our human dignity and rights.”
Citing prison “overcrowding,” the inmates say Alabama “is in the midst of a humanitarian crisis.” The inmates point to the Justice Department’s lawsuit against the state in alleging that their Eighth Amendment rights had been violated due to an “unsafe and hyper exploitative system.”
State Rep. Chris England (D-Tuscaloosa), former chair of the Alabama Democratic Party, tweeted Wednesday that he saw “nothing unreasonable about any” of the prisoners’ proposals. This includes inmates’ demand to end life without parole — a sentence served by criminals that have committed capital murder and multiple violent offenses.
There is nothing unreasonable about any of these proposals. pic.twitter.com/GKVUGDCRGg
— Chris England (@RepEngland70) October 6, 2022
Full list of prisoners’ demands:
- End life without parole
- Immediate repeal of the habitual offender law
- Immediately make presumptive sentencing standards retroactive
- Repeal of the drive-by shooting statute
- Creation of a statewide conviction integrity unit
- Establish mandatory parole criteria that guarantees parole to all eligible inmates
- Streamline the review process for medical furloughs and review of elderly prisoners for immediate release
- Reduce the juvenile offender 30-year minimum to 15 years before inmates are eligible for parole
Also taking to Twitter was former U.S. Attorney Jay Town, who called a majority of the prisoners’ demands “absurd.”
STRING👇🏼
Alabama prisoners provided @ALCorrections a list of demands. For the most part, they are absurd and do little to conditions:
1. Guaranteed Parole: Parole is not a right. It is a privilege to exit a lawful sentence early.
— Jay Town (@JayTownAlabama) September 28, 2022
The Office of Gov. Kay Ivey has noted that many of the demands would require an act of the Legislature. Given the Legislature’s Republican supermajority, is it highly unlikely that most of the prisoners’ demands would be considered.
The Legislature in October 2021 passed a $1.3 billion plan to address outstanding issues facing Alabama prisons, which Ivey signed into law.
RELATED: Ivey rips Calif. Gov. Newsom after Alabama prison dig — ‘Down here, we’re focused on public safety’
The phased approach to improve the prison system consists of construction and infrastructure renovations to state prisons. The new prisons will be built in Escambia and Elmore Counties. The plan does not expand the prison system or add beds to house additional inmates, but rather replaces current infrastructure to prevent overcrowding.
Dylan Smith is the editor of Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @DylanSmithAL
