County Officials Hope New State Intake Procedures For Inmates Relieves Pandemic Pressure
Alabama’s overcrowded prisons are one of the riskiest places to be during the coronavirus pandemic since social distancing is impossible. As part of efforts to control the spread of the disease, the Alabama Department of Corrections stopped receiving inmates from county jails on March 20. A month later, the system began taking inmates again, but only at about a quarter of the usual rate. That leaves a backlog of about 3,000 inmates waiting to be transferred, putting pressure on local facilities.
Last week, Gov. Kay Ivey issue issued an order telling the prison system to come up with a new intake procedure. WBHM’s Andrew Yeager spoke about the situation with Sonny Brasfield, executive director of the Association of County Commissions of Alabama.
This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.
The problem created by the backlog:
“County jails are overcrowded. A number of counties are looking at having to build county jails. With COVID we face the same issues in every county jail that the Department of Corrections does. Every sheriff in this state holds his breath every day in the hopes that there’s not someone that has a fever that’s exhibiting symptoms just as the Department of Corrections does. The only difference is there’s a county jail in every county. There are only corrections facilities in a handful of counties.”
Reaction to Ivey’s order:
“We’re hopeful that this proclamation will result in the intake procedure that is currently being used being altered and improved so that the flow of inmates can return. I hope the seriousness of that’s not lost and the urgency that that proclamation expresses is not lost. We have offered, just to be honest, to quarantine inmates. We have a dozen or so jails that have extra space and have the expertise to quarantine these state inmates at the local level. Up until this point that’s not been something they’ve embraced.”
How much longer county jails can survive with the reduced intake numbers:
“The issue right now is not as dire because there’s been a lot of work at the local level to give the jails relief in many areas. Up until the last couple of weeks the court system had not been functioning, so the influx of new inmates had certainly slowed down. Our significant concern is that if we do not get a new intake process together by the time jury trials start in Alabama, which is mid-August, if we don’t have a new system working, at that point we’re going to reach crisis.”
U.S. stops scheduling visa interviews for foreign students
The State Department has halted the scheduling of new visa interviews for foreign students while it prepares to expand the screening of their activity on social media, officials said.
Ex-police chief sentenced for rape and murder escaped prison disguised as prison guard
Law officers searched Arkansas' rugged Ozark Mountains for an ex-police chief and convicted killer who escaped prison by impersonating a guard and walking out through a gate a guard opened for him.
Noem urges Poles to elect Trump ally as CPAC holds its first meeting in Poland
The Conservative Political Action Conference held its first meeting in Poland on Tuesday, just days before a presidential election between a liberal mayor and a conservative backed by President Trump.
Former Sean Combs employee Capricorn Clark says he kidnapped her
On Tuesday, Clark, who worked for Combs for more than a decade, accused him of kidnapping her during a chaotic 2011 episode involving his former girlfriend, Cassie Ventura, and the rapper Kid Cudi.
Almost 200,000 Palestinians displaced by latest Israeli military offensive
Israel has ordered tens of thousand of Gazans to move to zone in the south
Susan Brownmiller, whose landmark book changed attitudes on rape, dies at 90
In 1975, Against Our Will: Men, Women and Rape explored pernicious cultural and legal attitudes about rape and helped debunk the long-held view that victims were partly to blame.
