For Immediate Release September 20, 2007

Contacts: 

Sarah Geraghty or Sara Totonchi
Southern Center for Human Rights
404/688-1202  
 

“Open Records Act” Lawsuit Challenges Corrections Commissioner’s Refusal to Disclose Public Records About Deaths & Violence in AL Prisons

MONTGOMERY, AL-- An “Open Records Act” lawsuit was filed today to compel the Commissioner of the Alabama Department of Corrections to comply with Alabama’s Open Records Act.  The suit, filed in Circuit Court in Montgomery by the Southern Center for Human Rights and Huntsville attorneys Jake Watson and Herman Watson, seeks an order requiring Commissioner Richard Allen to produce public records regarding a number of deaths, stabbings and assaults in Alabama prisons. 

Despite numerous written requests to the Department’s Legal Office, the Department’s Public Information Office, and to Commissioner Allen himself, the Department of Corrections has refused to make these public records – or any portion thereof – available to the Plaintiffs.  The Department maintains that all documents regarding any incident that occurs in prison – including incidents resulting in death or serious injury to inmates – are closed to the public and not subject to the Open Records Act.  

Death of Farron Barksdale
This lawsuit comes in the wake of the recent, unexplained death of 32-year-old Farron Barksdale at Kilby Correctional Facility.  On or about August 8, 2007, Mr. Barksdale, who had schizophrenia, was transported from the Limestone County Jail to Kilby Correctional Facility.  Prior to this date, Mr. Barksdale was in good physical health.  Just days after his arrival at Kilby, Mr. Barksdale was found comatose in his cell.  He died ten days later.  The cause of and circumstances leading up to Mr. Barksdale’s comatose state and his death are unknown.  The Department of Corrections has refused to produce any records regarding the death to Mr. Barksdale’s family.

Deaths, Stabbings & Assaults at Donaldson Correctional Facility 
The Plaintiffs also seek public records regarding an epidemic of inmate violence at Donaldson Correctional Facility in Bessemer, Alabama.  For over a year, men at Donaldson have reported to the Southern Center for Human Rights that stabbings and beatings with knives, ice picks, box cutters, broomstick handles, and other objects have left them with lacerations, ruptured organs, loss of eyesight, partial paralysis, and other physical injuries, as well as psychological trauma.

On May 13, 2007, for example, Plaintiff Dana Davis was nearly killed when another inmate cut his throat and stabbed him more than ten times. He lost several pints of blood and was airlifted to a hospital where doctors saved his life.  Plaintiff Leo Beverly was stabbed numerous times in 2006.  His lung was punctured.  Plaintiff Brandon Russell was hospitalized after being stabbed multiple times with a prison made shank.  Forty-seven staples were required to close the wounds to his head.

In March, 2007, the Plaintiffs presented the Commissioner with a list of over 50 recent violent incidents, including two inmate deaths, at Donaldson.  Despite repeated requests over nearly one year, the Department has refused to release a single record regarding any of these incidents.   

The Public’s Right to Know What Happens Behind Prison Walls
The relief sought in this action is in the public interest.  Members of the public, whose tax dollars fund the Alabama prisons, are entitled to understand and intelligently consider the conditions at Kilby, Donaldson and other correctional facilities.  Members of the public have the right to information about the number of people who are seriously injured in prison, the number of people who have died, and the circumstances surrounding those injuries and deaths. 

To read the Complaint, click here.

To view the Exhibits, click here.

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