The Justice Department announced on Thursday it would open a “statewide investigation” into the safety and sanitary conditions in Alabama’s prisons for men.
The announcement comes less than a year after Gov. Robert Bentley announced the Julia Tutwiler Prison for Women would begin closing in 2016 as part of a “complete transformation of the prison system.” Alabama had to settle a lawsuit with the DOJ over a report finding ongoing sexual abuse of inmates by guards at the prison.
“The Constitution requires that prisons provide humane conditions of confinement,” Vanita Gupta, the head of DOJ’s Civil Rights Division, said in a statement. “We hope to work cooperatively with the state of Alabama in conducting our inquiry and ensuring that the state’s facilities keep prisoners safe from harm.”
Alabama’s prison system has been under scrutiny for years. As of July, the DOJ reported they were at 178 percent capacity — the highest rate in the nation — which has led to an increase of violence within prisons.
A major prison reform bill in May failed in the state legislature. If passed, it would have borrowed $800 million to build three new men’s prison and one new prison for women.
The DOJ Civil Rights Division’s Special Litigation Section and the three US Attorney’s Offices in Alabama will conduct the investigation.
