BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) – A Justice Department lawsuit challenging sanitation and safety concerns in Alabama’s men’s prisons is too vague and should not be allowed to go forward, the state said in asking a court to dismiss part of the case.
The federal government has not specified which prisons are troubled by problems like broken locks, insufficient or faulty surveillance cameras and flooding caused by poor plumbing, the state argued in documents filed Wednesday, so the Department of Corrections can’t defend itself.
Even if the Justice Department spelled out specific problems, there’s no evidence they are a pattern in the state prison system, the state argued. And, it said, allegations about inadequate staffing are covered in other litigation and should not be included in the lawsuit, which claims Alabama prisons are so bad they violate the rights of inmates.
The state has acknowledged problems with its prisons for years while denying they were so bad that conditions are unconstitutional.
The government sued the state in December after warning in 2019 and again in 2020 about conditions in state prisons, which are designed to hold 12,388 people but were overcrowded with 16,810 prisoners in April, according to a state report. The population dropped by about 3,700 during the pandemic.