We have a problem with our prisons here in Alabama.  The prisons here are plagued with overcrowding,  an abundance of drugs, corruption, inadequate healthcare and most of all an unprecedented level of violence. 
     In 2019, data showed that the homicide rate is the highest in the country at 73.5 per 100,000. That is nearly 10 times the rate for the whole state. It's higher than the most dangerous cities in the country. In fact, it is even higher than El Salvador which had the highest rate in the world in 2019.
(Source- https://www.alabamasmartjustice.org/stories/alabama-prisons-among-deadliest-places-on-earth
 In 2013, the Equal Justice Initiative files complaints against Elmore, Bibb and Donaldson correctional facilities. This complaint made the following allegations:
1. At elmore, officers were known to handcuff inmates, strip them naked and beat them. High ranking officials including the warden were named as participants in these beatings.
2. At both donaldson and bibb, male officers would force the young male inmates to perform sex acts on them. They threatened disciplinary action if they refused or reported these incidents. Biological evidence supporting these claims was turned in.
(Source https://eji.org/cases/elmore-donaldson-and-bibb/)
 There were 325 inmates deaths in 2023. One of these was a 22 year old man doing a year for theft charges that was kidnapped, bound, raped and beaten to death. A process that continued for days. Furthermore, ADOC officials lied to his family and claimed it was an overdose. No disciplinary action was ever taken on anyone involved. 
     There have been inmates whose bodies were released to their families with organs missing. 
In 2023, there were 246, 815 grams of controlled substances recovered. From june 2023 to august 2023 there were 2000 weapons confiscated including 3 firearms. I personally knew someone who died at 20 years old from Pneumonia in Draper    correctional facility bc he wasnt taken seriously about needing medical attention.
      We must not turn a blind eye. We cannot allow this kind of dehumnizing and unconstitutional behavior to continue. If the state of Alabama puts someone in prison, they have a responsibility to keep them safe. They must employ  corrections officers that aren't accepting payments to smuggle in drugs and weapons and even worse, to turn a blind eye to the horrific amount of violence and use solitary confinement to pubish the victims.  And unfortunately the COs are rarely even fired for any type of misconduct, and it is more rare that they face criminal charges for their criminal behavior . More often than not, they are quietly transferred to a new prison to continue allowing human beings to be utterly degraded, beaten, exploited and killed. 
   I am asking you to think of your sons, brothers, and  husbands. How would you want them treated? Think of 22 year old Daniel Williams who was one week from his release when he was tortured to death.  We must not allow our government to tolerate this treatment of our fellow human beings.  We must take a stand and be a voice for an overlooked population of individuals who are far too often discarded and forgotten due to the mistakes they made, a population who have been condtioned and shamed into silence. And we must demand that these officers be held accountable. That these offenders brutalizing fellow inmates be held accountable. 
 I refuse to spend on more second of my life doing nothing. I refuse to accept defeat without fighting with every opportunity that is available. I hope that you will be a part of this petition and be a part of a public outcry against this dispicable behavior.