SPLC files federal lawsuit over inadequate medical, mental health care in Alabama prisons

The Southern Poverty Law Center and the Alabama Disabilities Advocacy Program (ADAP) filed suit today against the Alabama Department of Corrections (ADOC) for putting the health and lives of prisoners at risk by ignoring their medical and mental health needs and discriminating against prisoners with disabilities – violations of federal law by a prison system that has had one of the highest mortality rates in the country.

The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama, describes how prisoners, including those with disabilities and serious physical and mental illnesses, are confined to prisons where discrimination and dangerous – sometimes life-threatening – conditions are the norm. Strokes, amputations and prisoner deaths that may have been prevented with proper care are detailed in the lawsuit.   

“The state has long known about these problems but done little to bring prison conditions up to a humane and constitutional level,” said Maria Morris, managing attorney for the SPLC’s Montgomery, Ala., legal office. “There are too many lives at risk for us to wait any longer. In good conscience, we had no choice but to file this case.”

Alabama has the most overcrowded prisons in the nation and spends one of the lowest amounts, per inmate, on health care. The prison system contracts with Corizon Inc. to provide medical care and MHM Correctional Services to provide mental health care. In 2012, when the ADOC released a “Request for Proposal” for a new health care contract, applicants were scored on a 3,000 point scale. Out of a possible 3,000 points, contract price accounted for a possible 1,350 points. Qualifications and experience counted for only 100 points.

The ADOC renewed its contract with Corizon in 2012, even though Corizon (the company providing health care in Alabama prisons since 2007) failed every major audit of its health care operations in Alabama prisons under its first contract with the state.

The lawsuit cites numerous examples of conditions that threaten the health and lives of prisoners:

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