Survey numbers from 2021 show that roughly five percent of people in Alabama's prisons are housed in isolation for at least 22 hours a day for 15 days or more.
WBHM 90.3 FM is launching a podcast, “Deliberate Indifference: the story of Alabama’s prison crisis and the people inside it,” the product of reporter Mary Scott Hodgin’s in-depth research on Alabama’s prisons. The first episode will be available Wednesday, May 18. Listen at DeliberateIndifference.org or wherever podcasts are available.
As Alabama faces mounting federal pressure to address violence in state prisons, lawmakers begin a special session Monday to vote on a proposal that includes two new mega prisons for men and a new women's facility.
Thousands of people in Alabama prisons received COVID-19 stimulus payments from the federal government, but state officials are holding the checks. They say people in prison will get their money, but maybe not all of it.
State officials are back to the drawing board after Gov. Kay Ivey’s plan to lease three privately-owned prisons missed a major financial deadline this week.
Alabama's governor recently signed leases on two new private prisons with a goal of improving conditions for inmates. But reform advocates in Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana are urging a different approach.
State Sen. Cam Ward is replacing Charlie Graddick as director of Alabama's Bureau of Pardons and Paroles. Under Graddick's leadership, paroles rates declined significantly.
In one case, a lieutenant slammed a handcuffed prisoner on a concrete floor several times, knocking him unconscious and leaving him unable to breathe. He required hospitalization.
The issues around Alabama's troubled prison system are complex, but a new exhibit featuring artwork by Alabama inmates hopes to generate a different conversation.
Across Alabama, state inmates are getting GED certificates, learning to fix cars, and even how to code. As Alabama faces mounting pressure to reform its prison system, many state leaders want to increase funding for these educational programs.
There are many alternatives to prison including drug courts, veterans courts and community corrections. But a new report says in many cases these alternatives hinder rather than help those they are supposed to serve.
The 2020 legislative session begins Tuesday and prisons are at the top of the agenda. Lawmakers are likely to consider proposals presented last week by Governor Kay Ivey's Study Group on Criminal Justice Policy.
Prisons will be a top issue in the upcoming legislative session. The state Department of Corrections presented its budget request Thursday, along with the Bureau of Pardons and Paroles.
The Alabama Department of Corrections announced this week it is taking measures to cut down on prison violence. This follows the deaths of two inmates. One death allegedly involved the use of force by corrections staff.
Advocates and relatives of Alabama prisoners called on Gov. Kay Ivey's criminal justice study group to implement reforms. Concerns at Wednesday's meeting ranged from violent prison conditions to the lack of re-entry services.
The Alabama Bureau of Pardons and Paroles will resume parole hearings Tuesday. The state agency postponed hundreds of hearings since September, citing new legal requirements.
Gov. Kay Ivey’s Study Group on Criminal Justice Policy meets Thursday to talk sentencing. Advocates want the group to address the state’s Habitual Felony Offender Act.
When prisoners are released, they often face lots of hurdles. They can't find work or housing or health care. Often, they end up back in prison. The Dannon Project recently received a large federal grant that will allow the nonprofit to help more former inmates get on their feet.
The Southern Poverty Law Center sent a letter Tuesday to Gov. Kay Ivey and state Department of Corrections Commissioner Jeff Dunn proposing its own plan to address the state's prison crisis.
This week Alabama lawmakers considered a bill that would make abortions a felony unless the mother's health is at risk. And it wrestled with a solution to the state's prisons crisis.
The Department of Justice released a report Wednesday alleging that violence and other dangerous conditions in the state’s male prisons violate the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution.
Alabama’s prisons are overcrowded, understaffed, and plagued by violence. Mental health care for inmates is inadequate. There have been suicides and homicides within prison walls. Alabama Sen. Cam Ward explains how lawmakers are approaching the problems.