The article we read was about Alabama prisons and the corruption that occurs within the walls. Sandy Ray is an Alabama resident whose son was killed in an Alabama correctional facility after being beaten by guards. Her son, Steven Davis, allegedly came after two officers with a weapon in each hand. The guards “applied physical measures” to subdue him. This resulted in his death earlier this year. There is an open investigation on his death taking place by the state of Alabama. Alabama correctional facilities are considered broke, due to the increased stabbings and sexual assaults. There has been a steep increase in the overall amount of violence in the prisons. There were sixteen inmate deaths in 2019, fourteen were killed by fellow inmates, the other two by guards. The prison has also averaged 153 assaults per month in 2019. This is up twenty-three from a decade ago. Other than violence, corruption has become a huge problem in Alabama correctional facilities as well. One inmate even stated that it is possible to buy drugs off of the guards. This could be a factor of the low paying salaries that the correctional officers receive. Another prisoner said it would be very easy to access drugs and weapons from practically any inmate in the prison. Correctional officers stated that ,for the inmates, being in the facility is no different from being out on the street. Due to the combination of drug addiction and desperation, many inmates will do anything to get what they want. This is a big factor in the rise of violence and corruption in the Alabama correctional facilities. The Alabama department of justice has done very little to help solve the problem of violence and corruption. One inmate said the system is failing and that it is full of chaos, confusion and corruption. The department of corrections does not publicly track incidents involving use of force by prison guards. This could lead to little consequences for officers who abuse their power and physically, verbally and emotionally abuse the inmates. The federal department of justice will investigate civil rights violations that take place in facilities that house incarcerated people. Within the past five years, there have been seven cases open regarding civil rights issues. This again, shows that there is much abuse of power and abuse of inmates that takes place inside prison walls, and no one in Alabama seems to bat an eye at the issue. There must be policy reforms to deal with these key issues. Many problems like overcrowding, job vacancies, and little to no resources have had a major impact on the Alabama correctional facilities as a whole. The article points out that facilities made to hold 12,000 prisoners end up housing over 20,000. This number is up only by 800 from last year which shows that this has been a problem for many years. To solve these problems, the state of Alabama plans to hire 500 correctional officers and build three more jails. However, the head of the correctional department says the issue is resources. Also, the governor of Alabama, Kay Ivey, has stated that this is and will remain an issue of the state. Multiple departments must work together to end the major problem of mistreatment of inmates in Alabama prisons. Hopefully this will occur soon, or there will be more and more cases like that of Steven Davis. -Family789, LW789, Cubs789, Pitbull789
Overall, this article response was very informational and provided us with multiple things that we were not aware of. We do in fact wish that this article was focused more on different states rather than just one state. As reading this response we found ourselves asking why is the increase in the violence in the correctional facility happening and why has no one found a way to attempt to control it. Because of the pay we feel like the correctional officers do not care as much because they are not getting paid enough to deal with everything that has been going. This article seems like it provides a decent amount of information that can be used in order to improve the correctional system in general and as a whole. -Sunshine789, Jwilliejack789, Steelers789, Pearles789
The fact that guards are going out of their way to harm inmates is sickening. The State of Alabama obviously cannot handle their current correctional situation, but expects to be able to handle it if more prisons are built. Building prisons is great, but you must be able to adequately staff and equip them. Staffing them is a year round day in and day out job that requires paid staff, and if there is no money to pay the current staff, then there likely is not going to be money to staff new prisons. Over 75% of Alabama is rural, which means tax money is low and likely not sufficient enough to fund new prisons and their staff. mowing789,minimum789, slim789
The article we read was about Alabama prisons and the corruption that occurs within the walls. Sandy Ray is an Alabama resident whose son was killed in an Alabama correctional facility after being beaten by guards. Her son, Steven Davis, allegedly came after two officers with a weapon in each hand. The guards “applied physical measures” to subdue him. This resulted in his death earlier this year. There is an open investigation on his death taking place by the state of Alabama. Alabama correctional facilities are considered broke, due to the increased stabbings and sexual assaults. There has been a steep increase in the overall amount of violence in the prisons. There were sixteen inmate deaths in 2019, fourteen were killed by fellow inmates, the other two by guards. The prison has also averaged 153 assaults per month in 2019. This is up twenty-three from a decade ago. Other than violence, corruption has become a huge problem in Alabama correctional facilities as well. One inmate even stated that it is possible to buy drugs off of the guards. This could be a factor of the low paying salaries that the correctional officers receive. Another prisoner said it would be very easy to access drugs and weapons from practically any inmate in the prison. Correctional officers stated that ,for the inmates, being in the facility is no different from being out on the street. Due to the combination of drug addiction and desperation, many inmates will do anything to get what they want. This is a big factor in the rise of violence and corruption in the Alabama correctional facilities. The Alabama department of justice has done very little to help solve the problem of violence and corruption. One inmate said the system is failing and that it is full of chaos, confusion and corruption. The department of corrections does not publicly track incidents involving use of force by prison guards. This could lead to little consequences for officers who abuse their power and physically, verbally and emotionally abuse the inmates. The federal department of justice will investigate civil rights violations that take place in facilities that house incarcerated people. Within the past five years, there have been seven cases open regarding civil rights issues. This again, shows that there is much abuse of power and abuse of inmates that takes place inside prison walls, and no one in Alabama seems to bat an eye at the issue. There must be policy reforms to deal with these key issues. Many problems like overcrowding, job vacancies, and little to no resources have had a major impact on the Alabama correctional facilities as a whole. The article points out that facilities made to hold 12,000 prisoners end up housing over 20,000. This number is up only by 800 from last year which shows that this has been a problem for many years. To solve these problems, the state of Alabama plans to hire 500 correctional officers and build three more jails. However, the head of the correctional department says the issue is resources. Also, the governor of Alabama, Kay Ivey, has stated that this is and will remain an issue of the state. Multiple departments must work together to end the major problem of mistreatment of inmates in Alabama prisons. Hopefully this will occur soon, or there will be more and more cases like that of Steven Davis. -Family789, LW789, Cubs789, Pitbull789
ReplyDeleteOverall, this article response was very informational and provided us with multiple things that we were not aware of. We do in fact wish that this article was focused more on different states rather than just one state. As reading this response we found ourselves asking why is the increase in the violence in the correctional facility happening and why has no one found a way to attempt to control it. Because of the pay we feel like the correctional officers do not care as much because they are not getting paid enough to deal with everything that has been going. This article seems like it provides a decent amount of information that can be used in order to improve the correctional system in general and as a whole. -Sunshine789, Jwilliejack789, Steelers789, Pearles789
ReplyDeleteThe fact that guards are going out of their way to harm inmates is sickening. The State of Alabama obviously cannot handle their current correctional situation, but expects to be able to handle it if more prisons are built. Building prisons is great, but you must be able to adequately staff and equip them. Staffing them is a year round day in and day out job that requires paid staff, and if there is no money to pay the current staff, then there likely is not going to be money to staff new prisons. Over 75% of Alabama is rural, which means tax money is low and likely not sufficient enough to fund new prisons and their staff. mowing789,minimum789, slim789
ReplyDelete