“There’s more body bags leaving out of [Alabama Department of Corrections] than people on parole.” That’s what a person incarcerated in an Alabama prison said in the new groundbreaking documentary, The Alabama Solution. Here’s what he meant.
Alabama’s prison system is the deadliest in the U.S. The Alabama Solution’s six-year investigation revealed that nearly 1,500 people have died in the state’s prisons since 2019. These deaths aren’t a coincidence.
Alabama’s prison system is the deadliest in the U.S. The Alabama Solution’s six-year investigation revealed that nearly 1,500 people have died in the state’s prisons since 2019. These deaths aren’t a coincidence.
They’re unexplained and unreported. Many are from preventable causes, including suicide, drugs, violence, and officer brutality. The Alabama Solution’s investigation was stymied by the Alabama Department of Corrections (ADOC), which releases limited, incomplete, or inaccurate details on deaths. Can you imagine the death of a loved one — or your own — being written off as “accidental” or "undetermined"? That’s what the ADOC does.
The death of 44-year-old Tommy Rutledge was classified as accidental. In 2019 he was found unresponsive in his cell. He had baked to death in a cell that was heated to more than 100 degrees. One officer, Lt. Roderick Gadson, has been named in 26 civil lawsuits and been sued 16 times for excessive force. Despite beating Steven Davis to death in 2019, he has been promoted. Since his 2007 hire, the state has paid $436,000 to settle nine of his lawsuits.
Mass incarceration disproportionately affects Black people. These deaths destroy Black lives while concealing the atrocities being funded by our tax dollars. Learn more about The Alabama Solution investigation, watch the documentary, and take action at thealabamasolution.com.