To Governor Ivey’s Study Group: Don’t Forget A Prison Is Full Of People
On Tuesday, October 22, some members of the group appointed by Governor Ivey to address Alabama’s prison crisis toured Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore. ADOC Commissioner Jeff Dunn led the tour and told the group that Holman, built in 1969, is a good example of a facility designed to warehouse, not rehabilitate. He led the group through several housing areas, the license plate factory, and the segregation unit.
BY BETH SHELBURNE, INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER, CAMPAIGN FOR SMART JUSTICE
We commend ADOC for allowing the tour and the group members for venturing into one of Alabama’s most violent, understaffed and crowded prisons. However, a tightly-controlled and scripted tour like this hardly provides a holistic view of the many horrific problems inside our state facilities, including excessive use of force, corruption among staff and a despair so pervasive that our prisons have reported the highest suicide rates in the nation.
I was among a small group of reporters invited to observe the tour. We were kept several paces behind the study group and surrounded by correctional officers, who prevented us from taking even one step out of line.
No one was allowed to talk to any incarcerated people, even though we walked past dozens of men quietly sitting on their beds. I can only imagine them feeling like animals in a zoo.
This was a lost opportunity for study group members to engage with the people directly impacted by the crisis, but the group moved past the men like they didn’t exist. I was sorry to see this happen.
No one asked about Ricky Gilland, who was found dead in a segregation cell at Holman last week. ADOC has not released a cause of death, but men incarcerated at Holman suspect a possible overdose or suicide.
No one asked about James Beamon, who was attacked by a prisoner high on a synthetic drug called Flakka, that causes psychotic episodes in users. The entire system is awash in this dangerous drug, despite numerous contraband raids at various facilities. In July, Beamon was asleep when the man high on Flakka assaulted him, stabbing him 21 times. Beamon is still recovering from his injuries.
No one asked about the seven men who have been held in solitary confinement since February with no due process. They were abruptly transferred from St. Clair Correctional in the middle of the night and have been cut off from any visits with their families, church services and classes.
“There are many disturbing dynamics at play inside ADOC that new buildings won’t fix, but you have to actually talk to the people on the ground to grasp the complexity.
The men are not in segregation due to disciplinary infractions, according to Donna Wesson Smalley, a retired attorney in Mobile who works as a volunteer advocate for the prisoners and organizer with Unheard Voices OTCJ, a non-profit led by organizing prisoners. Smalley says the lack of proper ventilation in the segregation cells left the men feeling like they were baking alive during the summer. And several have reported vicious treatment by correctional officers, including an incident where they beat a mentally ill man while he was restrained and left him in his cell all night, handcuffed and crying.
The tour briefly walked through the segregation unit, which erupted with shouts, cries for help and banging on cell doors. The cells in solitary do not have bars you can see through, but solid, steel doors which completely shut in the person inside. We couldn’t see who the anguished screams were coming from, and weren’t allowed to stay long enough to even ask why they were in such distress.
This was the last stop on the tour and we were quickly ushered into a brightly lit conference room for a brief question and answer period with Commissioner Dunn. Refreshments were spread out on a table in the back of the room, but no one touched them. The toughest questions came from reporters, not study group members. One lawmaker did congratulate Commissioner Dunn on the prison’s cleanliness.
While I am encouraged to see study group members enter a prison, I strongly recommend that all members pursue intelligence on their own, away from the watchful eye of prison administrators and apart from hosted media events. Visit a prison when they’re not expecting you, talk to incarcerated citizens and their families, and spend some time with correctional officers when they are comfortable to speak freely about their difficult jobs, outside the institution and away from supervisors they fear might retaliate against them for speaking out. There are many disturbing dynamics at play inside ADOC that new buildings won’t fix, but you have to actually talk to the people on the ground to grasp the complexity.
If any study group members, lawmakers or stakeholders would like guidance on connecting with directly impacted individuals, please reach out to our coalition, Alabamians for Fair Justice.
Beth Shelburne is an investigative reporter for the Campaign for Smart Justice with the ACLU of Alabama. For investigative reporting on Alabama’s prison and pardons & paroles systems, follow her on Twitter at @bshelburne.