DOJ investigating violence and rape inside Alabama men's prisons
Source: AL.com
The U.S. Department of Justice has launched an investigation into violence, rape, overcrowding and other problems within the men's prisons in Alabama, the DOJ announced today.
The investigation will focus on whether prisoners are adequately protected from physical harm and sexual abuse at the hands of other prisoners; whether prisoners are adequately protected from use of excessive force and staff sexual abuse by correctional officers; and whether the prisons provide sanitary, secure and safe living conditions, according to the DOJ announcement.
"The Constitution requires that prisons provide humane conditions of confinement," Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta, head of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division stated in the announcement. "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."
The Civil Rights Division's Special Litigation Section and the U.S. Attorney's Offices for the Northern, Middle and Southern Districts of Alabama are conducting this investigation.
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Read more: http://www.al.com/news/birmingham/index.ssf/2016/10/doj_launches_investigation_of.html
By Kent Faulk
on October 06, 2016 at 11:29 AM, updated October 06, 2016 at 4:29 PM
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Source: The Guardian
DoJ to investigate Alabama prisons in 'possibly unprecedented' move
The federal investigation into physical and sexual assault and
living conditions comes after the nationwide strike and a series
of riots at Holman prison
Matthew Teague in Fairhope, Alabama
Thursday 6 October 2016 22.17 BST
The federal government is investigating prisons throughout Alabama in an inquiry that is “possibly unprecedented”. The investigation comes after a series of strikes and riots that have revealed the state’s prisons are in turmoil.
“It’s a giant investigation. This is rare,” said Lisa Graybill, a staff attorney for the Southern Poverty Law Center, which is conducting an investigation of its own. Previously Graybill worked for the federal unit that will investigate Alabama, and said the closest comparison in memory was an examination of Puerto Rico’s juvenile jails. “Taking on a whole state is unusual and possibly unprecedented,” she said.
According to the Department of Justice (DoJ) the investigation will focus on whether prisoners are protected from physical and sexual abuse by other prisoners and guards, and whether living conditions are sanitary and safe in general at men’s prisons.
Alabama’s prisons – particularly the notorious Holman prison – were at the forefront of a nationwide call for prisoners to strike from work, last month. On 9 September prisoners across the US began a strike that lasted several days, in some places. And at Holman, guards joined striking prisoners by staying home from work.
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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/oct/06/alabama-prison-doj-investigation
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