danielle
12-08-2002, 01:38 PM
Haley says Tutwiler well-managed, despite assault record
The Associated Press
12/8/02 1:25 PM
WETUMPKA, Ala. (AP) -- Prison Commissioner Mike Haley said Tutwiler Prison for Women is well- managed despite its record as the state's most violent lockup, with 91 recorded assaults this year.
A maximum-security men's prison in Bibb County recorded more assaults, but it houses nearly twice the number of inmates, according to Alabama Department of Corrections records.
Tutwiler, built in 1942 to house 364 prisoners, now has about 1,000.
Some assaults go unnoticed by guards because it's so crowded. Prisoners can touch while lying in their bunks. Most have access to razors, mop handles and other potential weapons. It's too crowded to separate predatory or mentally ill prisoners from the calm and weak ones.
"The only reason that more beds have not been added to the dorm facilities is that, simply put, not one more bed will fit," U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson wrote last week in a 68-page order describing the powder-keg conditions at the state's only women's prison.
The judge ruled that Alabama is violating the Constitution by housing female prisoners unsafely. He gave prison officials until Dec. 30 to present a plan to fix the problems.
Haley said he is developing a response with Gov. Don Siegelman and Attorney General Bill Pryor, but they have released no formal plans. There is no money to build another women's prison. Already, the state is under court order to move sentenced inmates out of county jails.
"The first thing to keep in mind is it is a prison. Prisons are not designed to be comfortable and there is no constitutional requirement that they be comfortable," Haley told The Birmingham News for a story Sunday. "Tutwiler is orderly. Tutwiler is well-managed."
Thompson called the high number of assaults beyond what's considered normal even in a prison.
Prisoners are not the only ones who have been injured.
In July, the lone officer overseeing one of the dorms was severely beaten. She lost her radio in the struggle, and was saved by prisoners who ran for help.
Lucky for her, the dorm door was unlocked for dinner. Otherwise, "this officer without backup or radio communication would have remained unaided," Thompson wrote.
The 37-year-old officer suffered a neck sprain, bruises and a knee strain. She has not returned to work, prisons spokesman Brian Corbett said.
Over seven years, Terri Newby, one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit before Thompson, watched conditions at Tutwiler deteriorate.
One night, she returned to her dorm from working at the law library to find a single officer in charge of four dorms, more than 300 women. He was giving out mail, she said.
"People are angry. People are fighting. People are brawling. People are screaming," she said.
With only one women's prison, and because of the crowding, there are no minimum, medium or maximum security levels like in men's prisons.
"People with life without parole are mixed in with every one," Newby said.
Newby, 43, was imprisoned for forging prescriptions and possession of a controlled substance. She said she became addicted to the painkiller Lortab after a doctor prescribed it for a bladder disease. When he discontinued the medication, she stole doctor's note pads and forged prescriptions.
A slender mother of three, with salt-and-pepper hair and wire-rimmed glasses, Newby looks the part of the PTA member she once was. She completed her sentence in November and lives in a Birmingham halfway house while she under goes rehabilitation and looks for a job.
A supportive family and will- power kept her from losing hope at Tutwiler. But she said most women in prison don't have those advantages.
The Associated Press
12/8/02 1:25 PM
WETUMPKA, Ala. (AP) -- Prison Commissioner Mike Haley said Tutwiler Prison for Women is well- managed despite its record as the state's most violent lockup, with 91 recorded assaults this year.
A maximum-security men's prison in Bibb County recorded more assaults, but it houses nearly twice the number of inmates, according to Alabama Department of Corrections records.
Tutwiler, built in 1942 to house 364 prisoners, now has about 1,000.
Some assaults go unnoticed by guards because it's so crowded. Prisoners can touch while lying in their bunks. Most have access to razors, mop handles and other potential weapons. It's too crowded to separate predatory or mentally ill prisoners from the calm and weak ones.
"The only reason that more beds have not been added to the dorm facilities is that, simply put, not one more bed will fit," U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson wrote last week in a 68-page order describing the powder-keg conditions at the state's only women's prison.
The judge ruled that Alabama is violating the Constitution by housing female prisoners unsafely. He gave prison officials until Dec. 30 to present a plan to fix the problems.
Haley said he is developing a response with Gov. Don Siegelman and Attorney General Bill Pryor, but they have released no formal plans. There is no money to build another women's prison. Already, the state is under court order to move sentenced inmates out of county jails.
"The first thing to keep in mind is it is a prison. Prisons are not designed to be comfortable and there is no constitutional requirement that they be comfortable," Haley told The Birmingham News for a story Sunday. "Tutwiler is orderly. Tutwiler is well-managed."
Thompson called the high number of assaults beyond what's considered normal even in a prison.
Prisoners are not the only ones who have been injured.
In July, the lone officer overseeing one of the dorms was severely beaten. She lost her radio in the struggle, and was saved by prisoners who ran for help.
Lucky for her, the dorm door was unlocked for dinner. Otherwise, "this officer without backup or radio communication would have remained unaided," Thompson wrote.
The 37-year-old officer suffered a neck sprain, bruises and a knee strain. She has not returned to work, prisons spokesman Brian Corbett said.
Over seven years, Terri Newby, one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit before Thompson, watched conditions at Tutwiler deteriorate.
One night, she returned to her dorm from working at the law library to find a single officer in charge of four dorms, more than 300 women. He was giving out mail, she said.
"People are angry. People are fighting. People are brawling. People are screaming," she said.
With only one women's prison, and because of the crowding, there are no minimum, medium or maximum security levels like in men's prisons.
"People with life without parole are mixed in with every one," Newby said.
Newby, 43, was imprisoned for forging prescriptions and possession of a controlled substance. She said she became addicted to the painkiller Lortab after a doctor prescribed it for a bladder disease. When he discontinued the medication, she stole doctor's note pads and forged prescriptions.
A slender mother of three, with salt-and-pepper hair and wire-rimmed glasses, Newby looks the part of the PTA member she once was. She completed her sentence in November and lives in a Birmingham halfway house while she under goes rehabilitation and looks for a job.
A supportive family and will- power kept her from losing hope at Tutwiler. But she said most women in prison don't have those advantages.