On Thursday, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) issued a scathing report condemning conditions and conduct of personnel at Alabama Department of Corrections (ADOC) facilities throughout the state. According to the document issued jointly by all three of Alabama’s U.S. Attorneys, Alabama’s prison system was in violation of the Eighth Amendment, citing numerous examples of misconduct by prison staff.
During an interview with Huntsville radio’s WVNN on Thursday, State Rep. Matt Simpson (R-Daphne) likened what was deemed a “lack of institutional control” to his alma mater University of Alabama football team’s late 1990s and early 2000s “lack of institutional control” allegations from the NCAA.
Simpson argued based on the circumstances, it was time for new leadership at the ADOC, and that included the agency’s head, ADOC Commissioner Jeff Dunn.
“One of the phrases that sticks out to me is lack of institutional control,” he said. “There is no way you can read this report and not think there is a lack of institutional control, and I think that starts at the top. There is nobody more pro-law enforcement than me.”
“The prison system in Alabama is unacceptable,” Simpson added. “The way that this is currently being run is unacceptable. We cannot just continue to say, ‘Well, we’ll try to do this,’ or, ‘We’ll look at this.’ The fact is Jeff Dunn was appointed as commissioner of the prisons on April 1, 2015. Here we are in July 2020, and to have these problems go on under his watch — somebody has to be held accountable, and it has to start from the top.”
The Baldwin County Republican lawmaker expressed his concern about ADOC leadership having been aware of increased Justice Department scrutiny and not having made progress in the elimination of these problems, as well as an apparent unwillingness to be transparent about the measures it has undertaken to resolve those matters.
“I think we need new leadership who actually willing to address these problems and make the changes that are necessary to fix these problems,” Simpson added. “The fact that we have drug our feet in the sand for five years and not done anything to address this — we need leadership in the Department of Corrections who is willing to work with the legislature and not do things behind the scenes and behind closed doors. Let’s let everybody know what’s going on in our prison system. Let’s come to a solution to try to solve this rather than just say, ‘We’re going to tell you what we’re going to do, and you don’t get to have a say-so about it.’ Then you have these reports that come out that are an embarrassment to Alabama. The reports specifically talk about the legislature and the steps the legislature has taken in the past few years to help. But it is falling on deaf ears. The Department of Corrections is not being run to a manner that the people of Alabama should accept.”
Simpson went on to explain that some of the facilities within the Alabama Department of Corrections systems were built to 1930s and 1940s recommendations. If new facilities were built to modern specifications, it would make it possible for technologies to be implemented that would rectify some of the shortcomings pointed out by the Justice Department.
@Jeff_Poor is a graduate of Auburn University and the University of South Alabama, the editor of Breitbart TV, a columnist for Mobile’s Lagniappe Weekly and host of Huntsville’s “The Jeff Poor Show” from 2-5 p.m. on WVNN.
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