I am thankful every day that I don’t live in Alabama.
Recently Alabama has been told by the DOJ that they will be sued by the Federal Government if they don’t immediately improve the horrific conditions in their prisons. They recently moved to make the executive director of the Parole board a political appointee, and now they are on the brink of approving mandatory judicially applied chemical castration for people convicted of sex offenses.
What a crazy idea. Notice they are not asking for medical professionals to make the case for chemical castration, they are asking judges to apply it as a mandatory condition of parole and probation.
One of the people quoted in the article below put it best:
“It seems more like a symbolic gesture that may actually undermine public safety as opposed to a measure that would actually promote it.”
This is frequently the case with regressive criminal justice legislation, but only in Alabama, South Carolina, or Florida (I hope) could such a bill make it to the governor’s desk (SMH).
Honestly, those without a friend or family member in jail or prison don’t really know, and most probably don’t care. They don’t realize just how easy it is to end up there. I was arrested last month. Somehow I was forgot about until 7 days later when I had my mother go to our city hall and hand her cell to the chief of police. Of course I still didn’t get to leave for 2 more weeks. Being arrested on traffic tickets that were supposed to be taken care of can happen to anyone. Of course an angry cop giving you a 4500 CASH bond is not the norm. So after the humiliation of having a picture posted all over social media and the papers (was picked up @730am) that picture was rough, all but one charge ended up dismissed. I had to plead to that misdemeanor or stay in jail for another month or go to trial. Plus even if i got bail lowered this small petty town cop said he would push to have it moved to a felony with the max sentence. They would drop thousands of dollars worth of fines for a 400 fine. After an hour I agreed to do it, it was then they told me I had to agree not to “go after the city” I guess for rights violation and wouldn’t pursue harrassment against the officer. The county jail where women are kept is a dorm type concrete area with a half wall to shield you while you go to the bathroom or shower.supposed to have a cap of 55. We had 80 women most of time with 70 on a good day. The fire marshal came but he could only peer through a small window in the corner. We had those waiting on prison transport, prisoners waiting to face new charges, and then those who haven’t or can’t be bailed out, or like me haven’t even saw a judge. A 3 inch thick plastic pad to sleep on but 1/4 of us didnt have a sheet much less a blanket. 2 out of 10 had no towel or way to even wash their jumpsuit. The thick suit must stay buttoned up all the way 24 hours a day or privileges are stripped. You are allowed 1 jumpsuit a week. We had 2 to 6 violent fights everyday and countless loud, tension filled in your face arguments. The 2 poor guards couldn’t have helped it. One night we get spaghetti, but the meat is raw, not undercooked, RAW. The Sgt said we could eat it and turn in a sick call (which you pay for) if we got sick, or we could stay mad and starve. 4 women spent the night vomitting, never saw a nurse though. I understand why they ate it, i mean its hard to starve from 5pm to 7am. An example meal is lunch, you get a hot dog, 4oz of lemonade, 1/3 cup of black eyed peas and a dab of ketchup. They won’t fix the fence that has frisbee sized hole, so you cant go outside. Literally, people havent left that small room in over 10 weeks. We spent 4 hours with no toilets one evening. Women only get 2 feminine hygiene pads a day, 1 hotel sized soap 1 roll of toilet paper, and a total sized toothbrush and toothpaste a week. There were also a couple of non medicated paranoid schizophrenic, multiple bipolar patients, those with depression all without most if any of their meds. Scarily we even had those detoxing from serious street drugs all in the same room as someone who is in their for traffic fines. The morning im going to get released i got attacked ajd someone suffering from meth detox raked her nails down my face. The nurse was worried about infections of staff or mersa might occur. I broke my wrist defending myself and know I caused major facial injuries to her. She had already been in fight that day but was finally put in a lock up cell. The nurse didn’t get the medicine from the nurse because the guy showed up there and said it was time to go to court, so I didn’t get it taken care of til that night when I got home. Alabama DOES NOT CARE if it’s not football.
Thanks for sharing your story, wish yours was an isolated story…but hopefully, change will come in Alabama soon (I pray). Josh
Sorry, that should have said stay in jail for another month until trial.