Bentley Calls Tutwiler Settlement ‘Positive Step’ For State

| May 29, 2015 

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1619316366 
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Governor Robert Bentley is praising a settlement between the state and the U.S. Justice Department over conditions at Alabama’s only prison for women.

Bentley says the agreement announced Thursday is a “positive step forward” for the corrections agency.

The governor says he’s proud of the progress already made in improving conditions at Tutwiler prison, but more work remains.

The settlement ends a Justice Department probe into complaints of widespread prisoner abuse and sexual misconduct at Tutwiler, which is located in Wetumpka.

The federal government says officers coerced female inmates into sex, watched them in showers and bathrooms and organized a New Year’s Eve strip show inside the prison.

Bentley says the state has been working for three years to improve conditions at the prison.

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