A new report from No More Alabama has found that the state has spent $68 million on litigation defending Alabama Department of Corrections officers involved in excessive force cases since 2020. 

No More Alabama is an advocacy group calling for “safety, transparency, and accountability in Alabama’s prisons.” 

The report, titled “Settling for Brutality,” lists 12 ADOC officers who have faced more than three excessive force lawsuits over the past ten years. Together, these 12 officers have been involved in 55 excessive force lawsuits — both class action and individual lawsuits. All of these officers are still employed by ADOC, according to the report.

Alabama’s General Liability Trust Fund covers the legal expenses of state employees in civil litigation. Since 2020, more than $20 million from this fund have been used to pay for ADOC employees’ cases — 63% of all spending from the GLTF in that timeframe.  

Authors of the report reviewed hundreds of lawsuits against ADOC to document, what they termed, a “culture of violence” in Alabama’s prisons. In reviewing lawsuits, the authors identified patterns in excessive force cases within Alabama prisons, which included using force as retaliation for speaking out against prison conditions.

Beth Shelburne, a co-producer of “The Alabama Solution,”  a documentary detailing conditions inside of Alabama’s prisons, also aided in the production of this report. The documentary sparked a wave of scrutiny against ADOC, with lawmakers approving a new audit pilot program to better monitor conditions in the state’s prisons. The first audit report is expected to be released in October.

Last week, the state legislature’s Contract Review Committee did not approve two ADOC contracts to pay a private attorney an additional $33 million to defend the department in an ongoing lawsuit from the U.S. Department of Justice. The contracts failed to pass the committee after Rep. Chris England, D-Tuscaloosa, opted not to approve them, saying that the department needed to provide more information on how it plans to resolve the issues leading to its lawsuits.

“There is a direct correlation between how much you pay your lawyers and how bad of a client you are,” England said. “And the Department of Corrections is an awful client.”

Alabama top stories in brief

PSC approves solar project in support of data center

• The Alabama Public Service Commission last week approved a 1,400-acre solar project meant to support a Montgomery data center.
• PSC board members unanimously approved plans for Alabama Power’s Clearview Ranch Project — which will comprise a 200-megawatt solar power generating facility and a 200-megawatt, two-hour energy storage system. The facility will be in Macon and Bullock counties.
• Alabama Power will pass the costs of the project to Dotier, a subsidiary of Meta, for a 20-year term.
• The project is meant to provide power for a $1.5 billion Meta data center in Montgomery. Another 2,000-acre solar project slated for Baldwin County is also supposed to provide power for that data center.  

Alabama federal judge nominee fields senators’ questions in confirmation hearing

• Alabama Supreme Court Associate Justice Greg Cook fielded questions from senators during his confirmation hearing as the Judiciary Committee considered his nomination to the federal bench.
• Cook was tapped by President Donald Trump to serve as judge for the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama. He has served on the Alabama Supreme Court since 2022.
• During the hearing, Democratic senators asked Cook a series of questions about the 2020 election and the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot — a line of questioning Democratic members of Congress have been using as a litmus test for Trump nominees.
• Cook largely sidestepped these questions, saying that Joe Biden won the 2020 election “as a matter of law” and that he “hesitate(s) to use the word attack” to describe the events of Jan. 6.
• Alabama Sen. Katie Britt, meanwhile, praised Cook, saying, “He has an impeccable record of service.”

Many Alabama virtual school students lagging in basic reading, math skills

• New reporting from AL.com has found that many students enrolled in virtual school programs in the state are not meeting math and reading proficiency scores, with many earning report card grades of C or D.
• Nearly 16,400 students are enrolled in a public, statewide virtual school program, such as Alabama Connections Academy. More students are enrolled in district-specific virtual school programs as well.
• Three statewide virtual school programs — Alabama Connections Academy, Alabama Destinations Career Academy and Alabama Virtual Academy — each have math proficiency rates of less than 10%. English language arts proficiency at each of these three programs also comes in at less than 40%. 
• State education officials called for an examination of virtual school outcomes during a July work session.

UAB receives $5M for cancer clinical trials

• The University of Alabama at Birmingham’s O’Neal Cancer Center has received a $5 million donation to expand its cancer clinical trials.
• The donation comes from Norman Estes, the president and CEO of NHS Management — a company that provides administrative support for rehabilitation and nursing facilities.
• “This gift will significantly enhance our ability to conduct groundbreaking clinical research, expand access to innovative treatments, and bring new hope to patients and families facing cancer,” said Dr. Barry Sleckman, O’Neal Cancer Center director.
• The O’Neal Cancer Center is the state’s only National Cancer Institute-designated treatment center — one of 58 nationwide.

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