Public safety

Alabama prisons halt intakes from county jails during COVID-19 outbreak

The Alabama Department of Corrections on Friday announced a 30-day moratorium on taking in inmates from the county jails amid the COVID-19 pandemic. ADOC on Thursday said an administrative employee in a prison tested positive for the virus, and that all staff who came into contact with the person are under a 14-day quarantine. It … Continued

Eddie Burkhalter

March 20, 2020

SPLC joins ACLU of Alabama in request for plans to protect jails, prisons from COVID-19

Civil rights groups are demanding that action is taken to protect people in jails and prisons, who are vulnerable to the spread of COVID-19. The Southern Poverty Law Center on Tuesday called for the federal government and officials in Mississippi, Louisiana and Florida to protect those facilities through evidence-based protocols and to “release those people … Continued

Eddie Burkhalter

March 17, 2020

Nathanial Woods executed as accomplice in 2004 murders of three police officers

A Birmingham man convicted of being an accomplice in the murders of three Birmingham police officers was executed Thursday evening. Nathaniel Woods, 43, was executed after appeals and national media attention failed to deter Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey to intervene. Woods was convicted of being an accomplice in the murders, despite the shooter’s statements that … Continued

Eddie Burkhalter

March 6, 2020

Pleas for clemency mount ahead of execution set for Thursday

At 6 p.m. today Nathaniel Woods is to be put to death at Holman prison for the shooting deaths of three police officers whom he did not shoot. A jury in 2005 convicted Woods of being an accomplice to the deaths of the three Birmingham police officers – Charles Bennett, Carlos Owen and Harley Chisholm … Continued

Eddie Burkhalter

March 5, 2020

Two correctional officers, two prison visitors arrested for contraband

Two correctional officers and two visitors to state prisons have been arrested on charges related to illegal contraband, the Alabama Department of Corrections announced Wednesday. Basic correctional officer Terrence Tolbert, 39, of Brewton, was arrested on Feb. 24 after an investigation into contraband at Fountain Correctional Facility, according to ADOC’s press release Wednesday. “The agent … Continued

Eddie Burkhalter

March 5, 2020

Family awaits report on cause of son’s death in Easterling prison

The mother of a 22-year-old who died in Easterling Correctional Facility on Sunday says the family couldn’t get answers from prison officials about what happened to him, and only learned that officials believe he died by suicide after reading news articles. Carla Underwood Lewis said her family began receiving calls from other incarcerated men at … Continued

Eddie Burkhalter

March 3, 2020

Alabama saw second highest gun death rate in U.S. in 2018, says new report

For the second year in a row, American firearm deaths remained relatively steady at an all time high, at 39,740 people including 24,432 by suicide and 13,958 by homicide, according to newly released data from the Centers of Disease Control. In a new analysis of the 2018 data, The Educational Fund to Stop Gun Violence … Continued

March 3, 2020

Ivey announces support for criminal justice legislation

Gov. Kay Ivey on Thursday announced her support for six bills that address the state’s criminal justice system, legislation that’s a product of Ivey’s study group on criminal justice policy. “I tasked the Criminal Justice Study Group with the mission of finding data-driven solutions to our longstanding challenges in our prison system,” Ivey said in … Continued

Eddie Burkhalter

February 28, 2020

ADOC investigating possible suicide at Easterling Correctional Facility

The death of a man serving in the Easterling Correctional Facility in Barbour County on Sunday is being investigated as a possible suicide. Marquell Underwood, 22, was found in his cell unresponsive at approximately 4 p.m. on Sunday, according to a statement by the Alabama Department of Corrections. Underwood was being held in solitary confinement, … Continued

Eddie Burkhalter

February 26, 2020

Early morning contraband raid at Easterling Correctional Facility

The Alabama Department of Corrections on Tuesday raided the Easterling Correctional Facility in Barbour County to collect contraband. More than 200 officials from ADOC, state Bureau of Pardons and Paroles, Department of Natural Resources, Game Warden Division, and Russel and Coffee County Sheriff’s departments conducted the early morning search, according to an ADOC press release. … Continued

Eddie Burkhalter

February 26, 2020