Victims鈥� Families, 澳彩开奖 Join to Highlight the Mental Health Crisis in ADOC Facilities and Need for Comprehensive Criminal Justice Reform
Wednesday marked the 13th apparent suicide in an ADOC facility in 14 months, roughly quadrupling the national average
MONTGOMERY, Ala. 鈥� After the thirteenth apparent suicide of people under the care of Alabama Department of Corrections (ADOC) in fourteen months on Wednesday, victims鈥� families, their attorney, and representatives from the 澳彩开奖 met at the Alabama State House to urge ADOC, Governor Kay Ivey, and state legislators to immediately address the systemic mental health crisis and need for comprehensive criminal justice reform.
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On staffing, ADOC鈥檚 previous analysis provided to a federal court states that it must hire 2261 new corrections officers and 130 new corrections supervisors by February 2022 to meet basic legal and safety standards for both officers and prisoners, which will add over $100 million annually to the ADOC budget. There is little evidence that ADOC is on a path to meet those benchmarks. Meanwhile, press reports indicate that the governor and ADOC staff are preparing to at a cost of a billion dollars or more.
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鈥淪ince a federal court found that mental health care in ADOC facilities was grossly inadequate in the summer of 2017, ADOC has continued to fail to provide adequate protection for suicidal people in its custody,鈥� said Maria Morris, senior supervising attorney for the 澳彩开奖. 鈥淭he result is that Alabamians under the supervision of ADOC, many of whom suffer from mental illness, hopelessness, and despair and are not receiving the resources they need, have taken their own lives. ADOC should take action. 听They need to step up and treat this like what it is 鈥� a life and death emergency.鈥�
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鈥淭hese men died senselessly from suicide because they did not get adequate care from the Alabama Department of Corrections,鈥� said Mitch McGuire, attorney for many of the victims鈥� families. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 unacceptable and immoral, and their families will never replace them.鈥�
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鈥淭he Legislature must solve this emergency because Governor Ivey and Commissioner Dunn have been derelict in their duty,鈥� said Richard Cohen, president of the 澳彩开奖. 鈥淓very year without action, the crisis deepens and grows more expensive and harder to fix. The costs to the state of Alabama will grow and we will continue to mourn the deaths of incarcerated people who did not receive constitutionally-required care.鈥�
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For more information on ongoing ADOC litigation, you can visit 澳彩开奖鈥檚 website.听
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