Alabama wants to be the 1st state to execute a prisoner by making him breathe only nitrogen
Alabama is seeking to become the first state to execute a prisoner by making him breathe pure nitrogen. The Alabama attorney general’s office on Friday asked the state Supreme Court to set an execution date for death row inmate Kenneth Eugene Smith, 58. The court filing indicated Alabama plans to put him to death by nitrogen hypoxia, an execution method that is authorized in three states but has never been used. Nitrogen hypoxia is caused by forcing the inmate to breathe only nitrogen, depriving them of oxygen and causing them to die. Nitrogen makes up 78% of the air inhaled by humans and is harmless when inhaled with oxygen. While proponents of the new method have theorized it would be painless, opponents have likened it to human experimentation. Alabama authorized nitrogen hypoxia in 2018 amid a shortage of drugs used to carry out lethal injections, but the state has not attempted to use it until now to carry out a death sentence. Oklahoma and Mississippi have also authorized nitrogen hypoxia but have not used it. The disclosure that Alabama is ready to use nitrogen hypoxia is expected to set off a new round of legal battles over the constitutionality of the method. The Equal Justice Initiative, a legal advocacy group that has worked on death penalty issues, said Alabama has a history of “failed and flawed executions and execution attempts” and “experimenting with a never before used method is a terrible idea.” “No state in the country has executed a person using nitrogen hypoxia, and Alabama is in no position to experiment with a completely unproven and unused method for executing someone,” Angie Setzer, a senior attorney with the Equal Justice Initiative, said. Alabama attempted to execute Smith by lethal injection last year, but called off the execution because of problems inserting an IV into his veins. It was the state’s second such instance within two months of being unable to put an inmate to death and its third since 2018. The day after Smith’s aborted execution, Gov. Kay Ivey announced a pause on executions to conduct an internal review of lethal injection procedures. The state resumed lethal injections last month. Smith was one of two men convicted in the 1988 murder-for-hire slaying of a preacher’s wife. The Alabama attorney general argued it is time to carry out the death sentence. “It is a travesty that Kenneth Smith has been able to avoid his death sentence for nearly 35 years after being convicted of the heinous murder-for-hire slaying of an innocent woman, Elizabeth Sennett,” Attorney General Steve Marshall said Friday in a statement. Alabama has been working for several years to develop the nitrogen hypoxia execution method but has disclosed little about its plans. The attorney general’s court filing did not describe the details of how the execution would be carried out. Corrections Commissioner John Hamm told reporters last month that a protocol was nearly complete. A number of Alabama inmates seeking to block their executions by lethal injection, including Smith, have argued they should be allowed to die by nitrogen hypoxia. Robert Grass, an attorney representing Smith, declined to comment Friday. Sennett was found dead on March 18, 1988, in the home she shared with her husband on Coon Dog Cemetery Road in Alabama’s Colbert County. Prosecutors said Smith was one of two men who were each paid $1,000 to kill Sennett on behalf of her husband, who was deeply in debt and wanted to collect on insurance. The slaying, and the revelations over who was behind it, rocked the small north Alabama community. The other man convicted in the killing was executed in 2010. Charles Sennett, the victim’s husband and a Church of Christ pastor, killed himself when the investigation began to focus on him as a possible suspect, according to court documents. Republished with the permission of The Associated Press.
State of Alabama executes James Edward Barber
After months of delays, Alabama is once again executing convicted murderers for their crimes. After the U.S. Supreme Court legally cleared the execution of James Edward Barber to move forward, Alabama Governor Kay Ivey told Corrections Commissioner John Hamm that she would not exercise her clemency powers in this case and then directed him to proceed with Mr. Barber’s lawfully imposed death sentence for the 2001 brutal beating of seventy-five-year-old Dorothy Epps. That execution was carried out by lethal injection early Friday morning. “Tonight, the justice that James Barber managed to avoid for more than two decades has finally been served,” said Gov. Ivey. “In 2001, 75-year-old Dorothy Epps desperately fought for her life as Mr. Barber brutally and gruesomely beat her to death in her own home. The facts are clear: Mr. Barber confessed to his guilt, and the jury has spoken. His litany of appeals to delay justice finally came to an end, and Mr. Barber has answered for his horrendous crime. In Alabama, we will always work to enforce the law and uphold justice.” Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall issued a statement this morning after the execution of James Edward Barber at the William C. Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore, Alabama. “Justice has been served,” Marshall said. “This morning, James Barber was put to death for the terrible crime he committed over two decades ago: the especially heinous, atrocious, and cruel murder of Dorothy Epps.” “I ask the people of Alabama to join me in praying for the victim’s family and friends, that they might now be able to find some sense of peace and closure,” said Marshall. The Attorney General cleared the execution to commence at 1:34 a.m. James Barber’s time of death was 1:56 a.m. On Sunday, May 20, 2001, James Barber brutally murdered Dorothy Epps at her home in Harvest, Alabama, taking her life so that he could steal her purse. Dorothy Epps was home alone on the night of her murder. Mrs. Epps knew and had a friendly relationship with James Barber, who in the past had dated her daughter and had been hired to do repair work on her house. When Barber knocked on Mrs. Epps’s door, she probably invited him inside, having no reason to suspect his malevolent intent. According to prosecutors, after entering her home, “Barber viciously and mercilessly attacked Mrs. Epps,” a 75-year-old woman who weighed 100 pounds, striking her in the face and beating her to death with his fists and a claw hammer. Dorothy Epps suffered multiple skull fractures, head lacerations, fractured ribs, injuries to her neck, mouth, and eye, and bleeding over her brain. She also suffered numerous defensive wounds, establishing that she was facing Barber at times, was conscious and aware of what was happening, and tried to fend off his blows with her bare hands. Prosecutors say that after murdering Mrs. Epps, Barber grabbed her purse and ran from the scene. Barber left the house a bloody mess. Barber’s bloody footprints were found on Mrs. Epps’s body, and his bloody handprint was left on a countertop. Barber was arrested and voluntarily confessed to the murder of Dorothy Epps, providing police with an elaborate account of his crimes. He admitted that “the crime was senseless and stupid” and that he deserved “to be charged and put to death” for committing it. At trial, where overwhelming evidence of his guilt was presented—including his own video-recorded confession—Barber was convicted of capital murder by a jury of his peers and sentenced to death. Barber’s execution was opposed by liberal groups who oppose the death penalty – even though the death penalty has been among the penalties for murder for thousands of years of human history across numerous civilizations. Ivey temporarily halted executions late last year after workers at the Department of Corrections botched two lethal injection executions because of difficulties inserting IVs into the condemned men’s veins. The Governor authorized the executions to resume in February. To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email brandonmreporter@gmail.com.
Gov. Kay Ivey announces plan to execute James Barber
Governor Kay Ivey on Tuesday announced she has set the time frame for the execution of James Barber to occur beginning at midnight on Thursday, July 20 and expiring at 6:00 a.m. on Friday, July 21, 2023. The Alabama Supreme Court’s order authorizing Ivey to set an execution order was shared with the press. “On February 24, 2023, the State of Alabama filed a motion requesting that this Court, pursuant to Rule 8(d)(1), Ala. R. App. P., enter an order authorizing the Commissioner of the Department of Corrections to carry out James Barber’s sentence of death within a time frame set by the governor. Upon due consideration of such motion, IT IS ORDERED that the Motion is GRANTED. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the Commissioner of the Department of Corrections is authorized to carry out James Barber’s sentence of death within a time frame set by the Governor of the State of Alabama IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the Governor shall set a time frame, which shall not begin less than 30 days from the date of this order, within which the Commissioner of the Department of Corrections shall carry out James Barber’s sentence of death IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the Clerk of this Court shall transmit forthwith a certified copy of this Order electronically or by mailing a copy thereof by United States mail, postage prepaid, to the following · the attorney of record for James Edward Barber; · the Governor of Alabama; · the Attorney General of Alabama; · the Commissioner of the Department of Corrections; · the Clerk of the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals; and · the Clerk of the Alabama Supreme Court · the Clerk of the Madison Circuit Court This Order authorizing the Commissioner to carry out James Barber’s sentence of death constitutes the execution warrant for James Barber.” Ivey followed that authorization with her order on Tuesday to Commissioner John Hamm. James Barber is being executed by lethal injection for his 2001 murder of Dorothy Epps. Barber, a handyman, robbed and killed his elderly neighbor, Epps – age 75, in Harvest in Madison County in 2001. The execution was delayed last year when Ivey asked for a moratorium to review what went wrong in the attempted execution of Kenneth Eugene Smith. After a short review of the state’s death penalty protocols, Ivey has authorized AG Steve Marshall to pursue new executions. If this process is like previous execution attempts, anti-death penalty activists will file motions at the Alabama Supreme Court and U.S. Supreme Court in the hours before the schedule seeking a stay in carrying out the death penalty. This is a legal tactic used to stall for time as the execution window winds down. Some previously condemned men have resisted efforts to allow the technician to find and tap a vein to carry out the execution. If those delay tactics successfully run out the clock past 6:00 a.m. on July 21, then Ivey would have to seek another court order to carry out the execution, and the whole process of executing Barber for his crimes could be delayed months. To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email brandonmreporter@gmail.com.
Alabama prison system raises officer pay to recruit staff
The Alabama prison system is raising pay for correctional officers beginning Thursday in an effort to address an ongoing staff shortage. The starting pay for a correctional officer trainee will rise from a minimum of $33,381 to a minimum of $50,712, with additional pay for those who work at high-security facilities. The starting pay at a medium security facility will be $53,244, and $55,855 at a maximum security facility. “Everybody knows about our staffing challenges, and we hope this will certainly be a good start in remedying those challenges,” Alabama Corrections Commissioner John Hamm told reporters on Wednesday. “This is something that we are excited about because in the tight labor market that we have, we need to be competitive with other law enforcement entities. This makes us competitive.” The Alabama Department of Corrections announced the raises earlier this month. The department has scheduled recruitment events across the state. The pay raises come as the state has seen the number of officers working in state prisons shrink despite a court order to increase staffing. The number of security employees, in positions ranging from cubicle operator to warden, dropped from 2,225 on September 30, 2021, to 1,758 on December 31, according to quarterly reports submitted to the Joint Legislative Prison Oversight Committee. A federal judge last month questioned the state’s lack of progress in complying with his order to increase the number of officers working in state lock-ups. In 2017, U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson found that mental health care in Alabama prisons is so inadequate that it violates the U.S. Constitution’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment. He said understaffing is a root issue of the problem and ordered the state to increase the number of corrections officers. Republished with the permission of The Associated Press.
Vigil for slain state prisoners held Tuesday
On Tuesday, Alabama Governor Kay Ivey delivered her state of the state address in a packed gathering of legislators, staff, and supporters in the historic 1859 Alabama State Capital Building. Minutes earlier, families of deceased state inmates gathered outside the same building to protest the conditions in which their loved ones were housed by the State of Alabama and remember those prisoners who died while in state custody. The Vigil for the Victims of the Alabama Department of Corrections was organized by the Woods Foundation. The rally was held on the Capitol Steps. Nearly 100 protesters attended the event. The protestors held photos of incarcerated Alabamians who had died prematurely while in the custody of the Alabama Department of Corrections (ADOC). Following the Capitol Steps remembrance of the dead inmates, the group moved their rally to the historic Dexter Avenue Baptist Church. Woods Foundation founder Lauren Faraino addressed the rally. “We are here to wake up our politicians and wake up the people of the state of Alabama,” Faraino said. “They will tell us that prisoners should stay in prison until the last day of their sentence. They will tell us that parole is not an option. We are here to tell them that a prison sentence should not be a death sentence.” “Alabama has the highest in-custody death rate of any state in the nation,” Faraino said. “Alabama has the highest murder rate. Alabama has the highest suicide rate,” for prisoners compared to the other 52 prison systems. The Ivey administration has addressed the issue of Alabama’s overcrowded prisons by beginning construction of two new mega prisons in Elmore and Escambia Counties. “We don’t need more prisons,” Faraino said. “We don’t need to give more money to a corrupt and failing agency.” According to the Wood Foundation, the murder rate for prisoners by prisoners is eight times the national average, and most suicides are prisoners in solitary confinement. The Woods Foundation also claims that assaults by corrections officers show a “pervasive pattern [of] excessive force.” They claim that the use of batons, chemical spray, physical altercations, and kicking by the guards often result in the deaths of prisoners. They claim that the vast majority of incarcerated men in prisons are addicted to deadly drugs often brought in by prison staff. ADOC Commissioner John Hamm recently told legislators that most of the contraband (drugs, weapons, and cell phones) are thrown over the fence. The Woods Foundation alleges that rapes of inmates occur “at all hours of the day and night…occurring in the dormitories, cells, recreation areas, the infirmary, bathrooms, and showers.” Former ADOC Corrections Officer Stacy George also spoke to the protestors. George told Alabama Today that the conditions in the prison facilities are “just awful. It’s terrible.” Fariano claims that ADOC has not notified the next of kin when their relatives have died in the penitentiary. “I can’t tell you how many of the families tell me that they found out that their sons and brothers had died on Facebook,” Fariano said. The ADOC has a chronic shortage of corrections officers. The low ratio of guards to prisoners means that guards aren’t there to protect prisoners from violence by other prisoners. It also means that guards receive little oversight, and often there is no one to intervene if a prisoner attempts suicide or drug overdoses until it is too late. In her state of the state address, Gov. Ivey did not mention the high mortality of the prisoners or justice reform but did say that she supports increased pay and benefits for the corrections officers. “Here in our state, we have and we will always back the blue, and that means standing behind the men and women who serve Alabama as Corrections officers,” Ivey told legislators. “That is a tough – and too often thankless calling, not just a job, and we must continue to make increasing their salaries and benefits a priority.” George did express some optimism that raising pay for corrections officers would result in the prisons being able to recruit and retain more officers. Fariano accused the leaders of the state of Alabama of being apathetic about the plight of the prisoners. “The politicians of the state of Alabama do not see these faces as victims, but they are victims,” Fariano said. The state of Alabama has been accused by the U.S. Department of Justice of having prison conditions so poor that it constitutes cruel and unusual punishment and is unconstitutional under the eighth amendment. The legal costs of defending against that and other lawsuits is costing ADOC funds that could otherwise be going to improve prison conditions or adding staff. Federal Judge Myron Thompson has ordered the state to hire an additional 2,000 corrections officers in a lawsuit brought on behalf of current and former prisoners by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). ADOC has adopted a new healthcare provider and attempted to improve mental health services for prisoners to address the issues brought up in that litigation. However, the number of guards has declined since Judge Thompson gave that order. The legislature has boosted funding for ADOC after years of neglect. ADOC received a state general fund (SGF) appropriation of $595 million in fiscal year 2023, as well as $400 million in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds to kickstart construction of the new mega prisons. To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email brandonmreporter@gmail.com.
Gov. Kay Ivey authorizes the state to resume executions
On Friday, Alabama Governor Kay Ivey informed Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall that he could resume the process of executing inmates awaiting their fates on death row. Ivey made Friday’s decision after Alabama Department of Corrections (ADOC) Commissioner John Hamm informed the Governor that the “top-to-bottom” review of the state’s execution process that she had ordered was complete. Upon receiving the word from Commissioner Hamm, Ivey sent a letter to notify Marshall that he may ask the Alabama Supreme Court to issue an execution warrant for an eligible death row inmate whenever he deems appropriate. Ivey had ordered the review of the process on Nov. 21 after two recent attempts to execute convicted murderers failed. Alabama is currently using lethal injection as its only means of execution. If problems persist with lethal injections, the state could revert to using the electric chair. The Legislature has authorized ADOC to also use nitrogen hypoxia as a method of execution. ADOC has established procedures for using nitrogen to kill by hypoxia. “I am pleased that Governor Ivey and the Department of Corrections have completed their review of their execution processes and feel confident that the travesty of justice that occurred in November of last year will not be repeated,” Marshall said. “As I have made clear, I and my office have remained fully committed to and capable of carrying out capital punishment in Alabama.” Marshall had already expressed his dissatisfaction with the delay and said that, as far as he was concerned, there was no moratorium on executions in Alabama. Marshall said that James Barber will be the first person his office will seek to execute following the governor’s decision to resume executions. “Accordingly, my office immediately filed a motion today with the Alabama Supreme Court to set an execution date for death-row inmate James Barber, and we will be seeking death warrants for other murderers in short order,” Marshall said. “In Alabama, we recognize that there are crimes so heinous, atrocious, and cruel, so exceptionally deprave, that the only just punishment is death,” said Marshall. “Those on death row -as well as their victims- can be certain that I and my office will always do our part to ensure that they receive that just punishment.” Barber was sentenced to death for the murder of Dorothy Epps. To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email brandonmreporter@gmail.com.
Gov. Kay Ivey says state will resume executions
Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey said Friday that the state is ready to resume executions and “obtain justice” for victims’ families after lethal injections were paused for three months for an internal review of the state’s death penalty procedures. The governor in November directed the state prison system to undertake a “top-to-bottom” review of death penalty procedures after the state was forced to cancel three lethal injections because of problems with intravenous lines. Alabama Corrections Commissioner John Hamm told Ivey in a letter shared with news outlets that his staff is ready to resume executions after making internal changes related to staffing and equipment. However, critics argued that the review should have been conducted by an outside group instead of the state agency “responsible for botching multiple executions.” The governor’s office did not release a detailed report on the review’s findings but shared the letter from the head of the prison system. Hamm said the prison system is adding to its pool of medical professionals, ordered new equipment, and has conducted rehearsals. He also noted changes that will give the execution team more time to complete its duties. The Alabama Supreme Court, at Ivey’s request, last month issued a ruling that gives the state more time to carry out a death sentence by allowing the warrants that authorize executions to last for longer than 24 hours. In a Friday letter to Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall, Ivey wrote that it is “time to resume our duty in carrying out lawful death sentences.” Ivey had asked Marshall to stop seeking execution dates until the review was complete. “Far too many Alabama families have waited for far too long — often for decades — to obtain justice for the loss of a loved one and to obtain closure for themselves,” Ivey said in the letter, which was also released publicly. “This brief pause in executions was necessary to make sure that we can successfully deliver that justice and that closure.” Marshall on Friday filed a motion with the Alabama Supreme Court seeking an execution date for James Barber, who was sentenced to death for the 2001 beating death of 75-year-old Dorothy Epps. Marshall said his office would be “seeking death warrants for other murderers in short order.” “In Alabama, we recognize that there are crimes so heinous, atrocious, and cruel … that the only just punishment is death,” Marshall said. Ivey rebuffed requests from a group of faith leaders and advocates to follow the example of Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee and authorize an independent review of the state’s execution procedures. Dozens of attorneys sent a letter to Ivey this week seeking an independent review instead of the internal one she authorized. “Throughout this process, we have argued that it is unreasonable to believe that the agency responsible for botching multiple executions can thoroughly investigate itself and suggest remedies to correct its own behavior,” JaTaune Bosby Gilchrist, executive director of the ACLU of Alabama, said in a statement. Christine Freeman, executive director of the Middle District of Alabama Federal Defender Program, a nonprofit that represents people on death row, said the result of Ivey’s review is “disappointing, but sadly not surprising.” “Instead of acting in the measured manner of the governor of Tennessee, by operating in the open with an independent commission, Alabama has once again chosen to pretend that there are no problems and not disclose what ‘review’ actually occurred,” Freeman wrote in an emailed statement. Ivey announced a pause on executions in November after a third lethal injection failed. Executioners were unable to get an intravenous line connected to death row inmate Kenneth Eugene Smith within the 100-minute window between the time courts cleared the way and midnight when the death warrant expired. It was the third such instance of the state calling off an execution because of IV line difficulties. The state completed an execution in July after problems establishing an IV line, but an anti-death penalty group has claimed the execution was botched. Hamm said the Department of Corrections reviewed its training for staff and medical workers involved in executions and its legal strategy in litigation; and increased the number of medical personnel utilized by the department for executions and the equipment available to assist them. He said the department also conducted rehearsals and reviewed procedures in other states. Hamm said the vetting process for the new medical personnel will begin immediately. His letter did not elaborate on what duties those workers will perform or what additional equipment was ordered. “I am confident that the Department is prepared as possible to resume carrying out executions consistent with the mandates of the Constitution,” Hamm wrote. “This is true in spite of the fact that death row inmates will continue seeking to evade their lawfully imposed death sentences.” The Alabama Department of Corrections did not immediately respond to an email requesting more information. The independent Tennessee review found the state had not complied with its own lethal injection process ever since it was revised in 2018, resulting in several executions that were conducted without proper testing of the drugs used. A review was also conducted in Oklahoma after the 2014 execution of Clayton Lockett where Lockett struggled on a gurney for 43 minutes before he was declared dead. The review was conducted by a separate state agency from the prison system. Republished with the permission of The Associated Press.
Low number of corrections officers in Alabama prisons cause for concern
The Permanent Joint Legislative Committee on Finances and Budgets-General Fund met in Montgomery at the Alabama Statehouse for legislative oversight of state general fund agencies ahead of the legislative session. The Alabama Department of Department of Corrections (ADOC) has just 1,732 corrections officers to guard the state’s 20,643 inmates. ADOC is the second largest agency in the state general fund (SGF) budget. Alabama has an antiquated budgeting system where there are two budgets: the SGF and the education trust fund (ETF). ADOC Commissioner John Hamm was appointed by Alabama Governor Kay Ivey about 13 months ago. He previously served as the Deputy Secretary of the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA) and as head of the State Bureau of Investigation. Hamm addressed the budget committees about his request for an additional $122.4 million in funding from the SGF for the 2024 fiscal year, which begins on October 1. The Department of Corrections appropriation in 2023 was $594,647,303. ADOC received $400 million in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding. Hamm said that the largest component of the ADOC budget is personnel. The lack of corrections officers is a public safety issue. Most importantly, it means that there are fewer guards to protect inmates from their fellow inmates. It is also a problem for the state legally as a federal court has already ordered ADOC four years ago to hire 2000 more guards – and the state has failed to accomplish that task. “One of our court orders says we must hire x number of security staff,” Hamm said. “I don’t know how we are going to make them come to work.” “This is also an issue with other states,” Hamm said.” Texas and Florida have gotten real aggressive on compensation. They are now well ahead of us. Recruiting corrections officers is coming from here. We are competing with sheriffs and police departments. Our compensation is lower and the benefits. Some of them are paying in the $50s and even $60s. We are 50% lower than that.” Hamm said that there have been some signs of progress though, recently. “We had about eight quarters of decline. We leveled off last quarter,” Hamm said, suggesting that this may indicate a turnaround. Hamm said that the Department had 688 vacancies for corrections officers, with just 1732 guards presently on staff. ADOC also has 1168 administrative workers with 264 vacancies. One legislator suggested that ADOC simply train prisoners how to be corrections officers to fill the vacancies. Hamm said that there are APOST standards for corrections officers that would prevent ADOC from hiring former prisoners as guards. ADOC is building two new mega prisons. Hamm said that the mega prison in Elmore County has poured its foundation pad, but now they have to put in the drains and plumbing before construction can begin. “It is on our Draper campus in a 300-acre site,” Hamm said. “The general contractor – Caddell construction – is on site. Soon there will be 800 workers out there. Hamm suggested that sinkholes on the site and drainage had slowed the project. “Site work is ongoing at Escambia County,” Hamm said. “We don’t have a general contractor for Escambia yet.” Hamm predicted that the state would be able to hire a general contractor once they finalized the design at Elmore. That design will then be duplicated at Escambia, saving money. Two legislators asked about the controversial decision to award the prison healthcare contract to a new company that appears to simply be an old company in several pieces of litigation due to walking out on prison healthcare contracts in other states. Rep. Arnold Mooney asked if YesCare was simply Corizon reorganized. “YesCare is a new company,” Hamm insisted. Hamm told the legislators that there are only five companies in the country that provide large-scale healthcare services for prisons and that four of those submitted bids. A committee was tasked with evaluating the four bids, and they recommended two companies. Hamm said that it was his decision to accept the bid from YesCare. “I made the choice of Yes Care,” Hamm said. The Department of Justice is suing the State of Alabama, claiming that the conditions in Alabama’s prisons are so bad that imprisonment in the state’s prisons constitutes cruel and unusual punishment under the Eighth Amendment, and as such imprisonment under the conditions found in ADOC is unconstitutional. To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email brandonmreporter@gmail.com.
Alabama prison chief says lack of staffing remains top issue
The head of Alabama’s troubled prison system said Wednesday that staffing remains “the number one issue” for the department and is looking to a combination of outsourcing and pay and benefit changes to increase the number of officers working inside state lockups. Alabama Corrections Commissioner John Hamm told lawmakers during budget hearings that the difficult labor market, which has many private industries searching for workers, has compounded the department’s difficulty in recruiting officers. He said the department has 688 funded vacant positions in security. “Any suggestions you might have, we’re all ears. I think one of our court orders says we are going to hire X number of security staff. I don’t know how we are going to make them come to work,” Hamm told lawmakers. A federal judge earlier this month questioned the state’s lack of progress in complying with his order to increase the number of officers. The prison system has lost more than 500 security staff employees over the last 18 months, according to court filings. Hamm said the state plans to put a bid out to hire a private security firm to staff prison positions that do not interact with inmates. He said those functions might include operating cubicle controls, searching people coming inside the prison and possibly manning prison towers. The goal is to free up certified correctional officers to work “inside the prisons, inside the dorms where inmates are,” Hamm said. Hamm said the Alabama Department of Corrections is also reaching out to other state law enforcement agencies to try to reach an agreement for their officers to help patrol prison perimeters. Hamm told lawmakers the department competes with local law enforcement agencies for officers and that the department lags behind in both pay and benefits. He said the department is working with the Department of Personnel to try to raise pay scales for officers. “Staffing is the number one issue,” Hamm told reporters after the meeting. “Staffing will solve so many other issues. … If we have enough correctional officers in dorms, they can eradicate cellphones, keep an eye on it, keep an eye on the perimeter.” The budget meeting, where department heads present an overview of their programs and needs, comes ahead of the legislative session that begins next month. Hamm said much of the funding increase the department is requesting is to comply with court orders, including the increased cost of medical care for inmates. Hamm said the department is also seeking $13 million for a system to combat contraband cellphones that inmates obtain. Alabama lawmakers in 2021 approved a controversial plan to use $400 million of the state’s pandemic relief funds to help build two new supersized prisons that would house 4,000 inmates each. Hamm said site work has begun on the prison in Elmore County. He estimated the facility would open in 2026. The approved legislation also included another prison with at least 4,000 beds in Escambia County. Republican Sen. Greg Albritton, who advocated for the legislation, said he is not satisfied with the progress. “I am certainly not satisfied. … We’ve had these discussions with the principals involved. They know about our concerns and they have been spoken with bluntly about the repercussions that may or could come along,” Albritton said. He declined to elaborate. During the meeting, some lawmakers questioned the department’s decision to award a $1 billion healthcare contract to YesCare, whose previous incarnation as Corizon has faced lawsuits in other states. “My question was how we can justify what we did with that particular bid,” Rep. Laura Hall said. The Department of Corrections sent a statement saying that YesCare remains the preferred vendor. “YesCare and Corizon are separate companies under different management and with different financial backing. As a result, Corizon filing for bankruptcy has no effect on YesCare,” a department statement read. Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
Alabama ‘close’ to finishing nitrogen execution protocol
The head of Alabama’s prison system said Wednesday that a protocol for using nitrogen gas to carry out executions should be finished this year. “We’re close. We’re close,” Alabama Commissioner John Hamm said of the new execution method that the state has been working to develop for several years. He said the protocol “should be” finished by the end of the year. Hamm made the comment in response to a question from The Associated Press about the status of the new execution method. Once the protocol is finished, there would be litigation over the untested execution method before the state attempts to use it. Nitrogen hypoxia is a proposed execution method in which death would be caused by forcing the inmate to breathe only nitrogen, thereby depriving them of the oxygen needed to maintain bodily functions. Alabama, Oklahoma, and Mississippi have authorized the use of nitrogen hypoxia, but it has never been used to carry out a death sentence. Alabama lawmakers in 2018 approved legislation that authorized nitrogen hypoxia as an alternate execution method. Supporters said the state needed a new method as lethal injection drugs became difficult to obtain. Lawmakers theorized that death by nitrogen hypoxia could be a simpler and more humane execution method. But critics have likened the untested method to human experimentation. The state has disclosed little information about the new execution method. The Alabama Department of Corrections told a federal judge in 2021 that it had completed a “system” to use nitrogen gas but did not describe it. Although lethal injection remains the primary method for carrying out death sentences, the legislation gave inmates a brief window to select nitrogen as their execution method. A number of inmates selected nitrogen. Hamm also said a review of the state’s execution procedures should be completed, “probably within the next month.” Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey requested a pause in executions to review procedures after lethal injections were halted. Ivey cited concerns for the victims and their families in ordering the review in Alabama. “For the sake of the victims and their families, we’ve got to get this right,” Ivey said. A group of faith leaders last week urged Ivey to authorize an independent review of execution procedures, as Oklahoma and Tennessee did after a series of failed lethal injections in those states. Republished with the permission of The Associated Press.
About 80 inmates released with ankle monitors under new law
About 80 Alabama inmates were released with ankle monitors Tuesday as a 2021 law took effect requiring inmates to spend the final few months of their prison sentence on supervised release, the Alabama Department of Corrections said. The law requires inmates to be released to the supervision of the Alabama Bureau of Pardons somewhere between three and 12 months before their sentences end. The inmates would have been freed from prison anyway in the upcoming months when their sentences end, but would not have had ankle monitors. Approximately 400 inmates are eligible to be released under the law, Cam Ward, executive director of the Alabama Bureau of Pardons and Paroles, said Monday. The Alabama Department of Corrections said in a news release that there will be a rolling release of the remaining eligible inmates as required victim notifications are done. The 2021 law, which was approved with broad support, was touted by proponents as a public safety measure designed to make sure inmates are monitored when they leave prison instead of walking out the door unsupervised when their sentence concludes. But the measure has drawn criticism from the state attorney general and some district attorneys because it allows inmates, including people convicted of violent crimes such as murder and manslaughter, to leave prison several months early. Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall also argued that required victim notifications had not been done. Republican Rep. Jim Hill, a former circuit judge who sponsored the 2021 legislation, said he believes the measure enhances public safety because inmates will be followed for a period of time instead of being released from prison unsupervised when their sentences end. “I see this as an opportunity to follow individuals who have been in prison for a period of time before we completely release them to no supervision whatsoever,” Hill said. Alabama lawmakers first approved the supervised release requirement in 2015. The 2021 legislation made the requirement retroactive. Ward said this is expected to be the only large-scale release as the 2021 law takes effect. Inmates convicted of sex crimes involving children are not eligible for early release. Marshall, who spoke against the legislation in 2021, on Monday filed a lawsuit against Corrections Commissioner John Hamm seeking a restraining order to block the release of the inmates until crime victims are notified. Marshall’s office argued in a court filing that at least 50 of the 412 inmates set to be released are serving time for murder or manslaughter and that fewer than 20 victims had been notified as of Friday. In a Monday letter to Marshall, Hamm said the prison system will not release any inmate “until we have ensured compliance with the Act’s victim notice requirement.” Montgomery Circuit Judge Jimmy Pool dismissed the lawsuit based on those assurances. Republished with the permission of The Associated Press.
400 Alabama inmates to be released early under 2021 law
Several hundred Alabama inmates are set to be freed from prison under a 2021 sentencing law that sends prisoners to supervised release several months before their sentences are set to end. Approximately 400 inmates are scheduled to be released under the law intended to make sure inmates have supervision when they leave prison, Cam Ward, executive director of the Alabama Bureau of Pardons and Paroles, said Monday. The law, which takes effect Tuesday, requires inmates to be released between three and twelve months before their sentences end to be supervised by the Board of Pardon and Paroles for the remainder of their sentences. They will be subject to electronic monitoring. “On average, they usually have eight months left on their sentences before they were going to get out either way. Some had two months,” Ward said. Ward said his agency did not take a position on the legislation in 2021 but is tasked with monitoring the released inmates. The law was passed with broad support and touted by proponents as a public safety measure designed to make sure inmates are monitored when they leave prison instead of walking out the door unsupervised when their sentence concludes. But the measure has drawn criticism from the state attorney general and some district attorneys because it allows inmates, including people convicted of violent crimes such as murder and assault, to leave prison early. Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall, who spoke against the legislation in 2021, on Monday filed a lawsuit against Corrections Commissioner John Hamm seeking a restraining order to block the release of the inmates until crime victims are notified. Marshall argued that at least 50 of the 412 inmates set to be released are serving time for murder or manslaughter and that fewer than 20 victims had been notified as of Friday. “Every violent crime leaves behind a victim or a victim’s family. That is why state and federal laws have long recognized the rights of crime victims or their families to be notified by the relevant government agency when their offender is up for parole or is soon to be released from prison,” Marshall’s office wrote in the request for an injunction. In a Monday letter to Marshall, Hamm said the prison system will not release any inmate “until we have ensured compliance with the act’s victim notice requirement.” He said court action was unneeded in his view. Montgomery Circuit Judge Jimmy Pool denied the temporary restraining order. Alabama lawmakers first approved the supervised release requirement in 2015, but it only applied to future inmates. The 2021 legislation made the requirement retroactive, expanding the number of incarcerated people who are eligible for release. Republican Rep. Jim Hill, a former circuit judge who sponsored the 2021 legislation, said he believes the measure enhances public safety because inmates will be followed for a period of time instead of being released from prison with “no supervision whatsoever” when their sentence ends. “I think it’s a public safety issue. I think this makes the public safer to have this kind of supervision,” Hill said. The Alabama Department of Corrections did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment. Alabama lawmakers approved the measure along with legislation authorizing the construction of new prisons. Under the law, a person sentenced to five years or less in prison would be released between three months and five months early. A person sentenced to between five and ten years in prison would be released between six and eight months early. A person sentenced to more than ten years in prison would be released between ten months and one year early. Ward said the prison system is supposed to verify a “home plan” for each inmate. Inmates convicted of sex crimes involving children are not eligible for release under the law. Republished with the permission of The Associated Press.
