Alabama Prisons Among Deadliest Places On Earth
Alabama’s failure to protect incarcerated people from harm has led to unprecedented levels of violence inside state prisons. The rate of violence inside Alabama prisons exceeds the rate for some of the most dangerous places in the world.
BY BETH SHELBURNE, INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER, CAMPAIGN FOR SMART JUSTICE
16 people were victims of homicide inside Alabama prisons in 2019, the highest number on record. 14 of the killings were the result of prisoner-on-prisoner violence. Two victims were killed by correctional officers in “use-of-force” incidents.
There were 21,757 people held inside Alabama prisons in 2019, according to the latest available custody population data from the Alabama Department of Corrections (ADOC). That puts the ADOC per capita rate of homicides at 73 per 100,000 people, which is almost 10 times higher than Alabama’s overall murder rate of 7.8 per 100,000 people, according to the 2018 FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Program.
The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) attributes this violence to chronic overcrowding and understaffing, as well as ADOC’s inability to control the flow of illegal drugs and weapons into and within the prisons. The findings of a 2-year investigation of Alabama prisons released in April of 2019 also cite ADOC’s ineffective management, inadequate incident reporting, and the use of solitary confinement to punish victims of violence.
These causes together produce “a high level of violence that is too common, cruel, of an unusual nature, and pervasive,” according to the DOJ.
The homicide rate within the confines of ADOC has dramatically increased in recent years, while the overall murder rate in the United States has fallen since its peak in the 1990’s.
In 2018, 10 people were killed inside Alabama prisons, according to ADOC statistical reports. In 2017, ADOC reported 9 prisoner-on-prisoner homicides.
ADOC’s homicide rate is higher than the rates in the most dangerous American cities. St. Louis had the highest per capita murder rate in 2018, at 60 murders per 100,000 people. Source: https://www.thetrace.org/2018/04/highest-murder- rates-us-cities-list/ ADOC’s homicide rate also surpasses countries considered to be the most dangerous in the world. El Salvador had the highest homicide rate in the world in 2016, at 61 murders per 100,000 people, according to the Global Study on Homicide Data by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.
The overall violent crime rate inside ADOC also outpaces Alabama and the United States. ADOC reported 1,712 total assaults in 2019 at a rate of 7,868 assaults per 100,000 people. That’s 15 times the violent crime rate in Alabama and 20 times the rate in the United States.
Since April of 2019, the DOJ and ADOC have been in private negotiations after a DOJ investigation found reasonable cause that Alabama prisons violate the Constitution’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment. The DOJ has recommended that ADOC immediately address overcrowding and understaffing, as well as institute new policies and training to improve the security and safety of its facilities.
Alabama leaders must address these dangerous conditions with immediate reforms because any sentence within ADOC can be a death sentence.
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.