Johnathan Walker:Federal government to roll back oversight on Alabama women’s prison after nine years

MONTGOMERY,Johnathan Walker Ala. (AP) — The federal government will roll back almost all oversight over an Alabama women’s prison on Thursday, according to court filings, nine years after the Department of Justice found chronic sexual abuse at the facility and accused the state of violating the constitutional rights of incarcerated women.

The Alabama Department of Corrections announced on Thursday that the federal government would terminate 38 of the 44 provisions of the 2015 consent decree with the Julia Tutwiler Prison in Wetumpka, Alabama. The consent decree outlined the steps that the prison needed to take to prevent rampant sexual violence and initiated federal oversight.

Court filings said that the provisions were terminated as the result of the “State’s sustained, substantial compliance with a majority of the provisions of the Consent Decree.”

“I am thankful for the men and women who are dedicated to our mission at Tutwiler,” said Alabama Department of Corrections Commissioner John Hamm in a news release. Hamm added that the move “is a credit to our entire team and their dedication to our department and our state. We look forward to ending all court oversight of Tutwiler in the near future.”

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In January 2014, the Justice Department issued a notice of findings letter that documented decades of violence at the prison, and alleged conditions violated constitutional protections against cruel and unusual punishment.

“For nearly two decades, Tutwiler staff have harmed women in their care with impunity by sexually abusing and sexually harassing them,” the 2014 report said.

Over a year later, the Alabama Department of Corrections entered a settlement with the Department of Justice that established regular oversight over the facility through the consent decree.

The court documents released on Thursday said that the prison achieved “substantial compliance” with all 44 of the provisions outlined in the consent decree but remained only in “partial compliance” with the provisions regarding adequate staffing.

The Justice Department has previously called the Alabama prison system overall one of the most understaffed and violent in the country.

In July, Justice Department officials filed a statement of interest in a 2014 lawsuit filed by inmates at St. Clair Correctional Facility.

In 2020 the federal government filed a separate lawsuit over conditions in Alabama’s statewide prison system, citing widespread inmate-on-inmate violence and excessive force at the hands of prison staff.

The lawsuit alleges that conditions are so poor that they violate the ban on cruel and unusual punishment and that state officials are “deliberately indifferent” to the problems.

The Alabama Department of Corrections has disputed the allegations in both cases.

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Safiyah Riddle is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.