By Sam Mattison
Alabama Political Reporter
The Alabama Senate Democratic Caucus called on the Alabama Department of Corrections and fellow lawmakers to “finally deal with the State’s prison problem.”
The statement comes after US District Judge Myron Thompson ruled that mental healthcare in ADOC’s facilities was “horrendously inadequate.”
Thompson called on lawmakers to find a “immediate and long-term” fix for the mental healthcare problem. He has not yet set a deadline for Alabama to address the problem.
Senate Minority Leader Quinton Ross (D-Montgomery) said the ruling “further emphasizes the need for prison reform and we as a legislature need to get serious about our prisons and these mental health concerns.”
Ross said that some ways to fix these problems “do not require new buildings” and said additional staff and new care could be implemented.
“We need to do other things before we start building new prisons and this only amplifies this fact,” Ross said.
There were several prison bills during the 2017 Alabama Legislative Session.
The most recent bill, sponsored by Senator Cam Ward (R-Alabaster), was introduced during the last two weeks of the Session. It would have required four prisons to be built on a budget of $845 million.
It did not make it through both chambers.
There has been some speculation that Governor Kay Ivey will call a Special Session to address prisons later this year.
APR reported on May 22, 2017 that Ivey said she may call a special session regarding Thompson’s ruling. When Ivey said this, Thompson had yet to rule on Alabama’s mental health facilities.
