U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson

It’s been 16 months since a judge ordered Alabama to speed up mental evaluations and treatment for those waiting in jail to stand trial, but the state has failed to meet nearly all of the benchmarks to do so.  Attorneys for the plaintiffs in the 2016 class-action civil lawsuit worry that the state isn’t capable … Continued

A federal court ruled Monday that Alabama’s prison system fails to adequately evaluate the mental health of inmates during isolation in segregation cells. The treatment of the inmates is unconstitutional and violates the Eighth Amendment, U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson wrote in a ruling that found the Alabama Department of Corrections to be “deliberately indifferent” … Continued

The Alabama Department of Corrections could be held in more legal peril for failing to meet multiple deadlines for required mental health staffing in Alabama prisons. ADOC officials are appearing Tuesday at a contempt hearing before U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson. The hearing, which comes nearly 10 months after Thompson ordered ADOC to increase mental … Continued

By Chip Brownlee Alabama Political Reporter Senators approved a $2 billion General Fund Budget, the largest in about a decade, but delayed voting Tuesday on the 3 percent pay raise for state employees Gov. Kay Ivey proposed earlier this year. The Senate voted 26 to 2 to pass the budget that will fund all of Alabama’s … Continued

By Bill Britt Alabama Political Reporter Whether through ignorance, graft or just an unwillingness to look past the second ripple in the pond, the state’s current plan to address the prison healthcare crisis is a boondoggle. That’s where the Alabama Department of Corrections is with its attempt to secure a new contractor to provide medical … Continued