In a recent series of articles published by Alabama Reflector called “Blood Money”, investigations into the Alabama Department of Corrections show a rise in cases against ADOC officers over the last five years.
Like other state agencies, ADOC pays into the state’s General Liability Trust Fund, which is used to defend state employees in individual-plaintiff filed lawsuits. Where ADOC differs from other organizations is in the amount of funds that it draws each year from the Trust Fund.
Since 2020, a total of 124 court cases against ADOC employees resulted in settlements being paid out to the plaintiffs rather than prolonged legal cases. A total of 94 of these cases involved allegations of excessive force. The largest of these was for $250,000, paid out to the mother of Steven Davis, who died due to injuries suffered while in ADOC custody.
Davis’s death was ruled a homicide by a medical examiner. Davis’s mother, Sondra Ray, pressed charges against four officers for the death of her son. After the investigation, the attorney general’s office declined to press charges.
ADOC denied any wrongdoing and said officers had used necessary force to subdue Davis. According to the official account, officers used force after Davis refused to drop weapons he was brandishing, though other accounts claim that officers continued to beat Davis after he dropped the weapons. A total of $393,000 in attorney fees were paid out to defend the officers.
The officers involved were able to continue to hold their positions, and one officer, Roderick Gadson, was later promoted. Davis’s death was not the only case Gadson was named as a defendant. Another incident involving Gadson resulted in a $10,000 settlement.
Davis’s shows a general pattern identified by the Alabama Reflector’s reporting. In cases filed against ADOC, the legal fees typically outweigh the amount given to the plaintiffs in settlement fees. Since 2020, ADOC has drawn over $17 million from the General Liability Trust Fund. Of $17 million used, $4.4 million has been used to pay settlement fees.
Increasingly, ADOC is giving cases to private law firms to handle, a practice which Hank Sherrod, an attorney who has represented many incarcerated individuals or their families in these cases, sees as a contributing factor in increasing fees.
“Using outside law firms billing by the hour can make the GLTF (liability trust fund) more of a pot of gold for law firms than a fund to compensate victims,” Sherrod told Alabama Reflector.
The General Liability Trust Fund is funded through taxpayer dollars in addition to the rates paid into it by state organizations.
Alabama top stories in brief
Alabama lieutenant governor not to run for governor in 2026
- Lt. Gov. Will Ainsworth announced on May 21 that he would not run for governor in the 2026 race, though he has said he will remain politically active “working alongside President Trump to help elect a strong, conservative governor.”
- Sen. Tommy Tuberville has expressed interest in running, and is expected to run free of any serious opposition. Tuberville has said that he will announce whether or not he will run on May 27.
- Ainsworth’s term is set to end in January 2027.
U.S. citizen detained by ICE in South Alabama, later released
- Leonardo García Venegas, a U.S. citizen born in Florida, was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents while working at a job site in Foley.
- ICE conducted an immigration raid at Venegas’s job site, and arrested several other men, including Venegas’s brother, who was not a citizen.
- According to Venegas, he was trying to film the event when agents grabbed him. He also said he showed agents his ID, but was told that it was fake by the agents, he was later released after providing agents with his social security number.
- The Department of Homeland Security said in a post on X that Venegas had attempted to obstruct an arrest.
Alabama Power faces lawsuits
- Coosa Riverkeeper, an environmental protection group that works to keep the Coosa River clean, issued a formal notice that they intended to sue Alabama Power over ground water pollution caused by an ash pond in Gadsden.
- The pond in question was sealed in 2018, but has continued to leak pollutants into the groundwater consistently, according to reports by the Alabama Department of Environmental Management.
- The pond is located less than a mile downstream from a drinking water intake.
- The ADEM fined Alabama Power $1.25 million for groundwater contamination in 2018.
- According to Coosa Riverkeeper, groundwater samplings from near the Gadsden pond shows the arsenic level at 40 times the legal standard.
- Ash ponds are a popular method of disposing of the by-products from burning coal, though they have long been unpopular with environmental advocates who say they risk contaminating groundwater. Utility companies take the various by-products of burning coal, mix them with water and store them in a pond.
‘Don’t Say Gay’ expansion bill may be reintroduced next year
- HB244, which plans to expand upon previously passed legislature and prohibit classroom discussion of gender identity or sexual orientation, will possibly be revived after it failed to pass through the state Senate at the end of this session, which adjourned May 14.
- Rep. Mack Butler, R-Rainbow City, a sponsor of the bill, says he plans to refile next year with hopes of it passing through both the state House and Senate. The current law as it stands states it is prohibited to have classroom discussions on these topics with children in grades K-5, but Butler’s bill would increase prohibitions to preK-12 and include stricter guidelines. This would include not allowing employees to display LGBTQ+ insignias, such as pride flags, in classrooms.
- Critics of the expansion question what is defined as instructional time, such as Southern Poverty Law Center community organizer Makhayla DesRosiers, who criticized the verbiage of the legislation by saying, “If I’m learning something outside of my regular school hours, is that instructional time?”
- Butler defended the bill by saying that students still have their First Amendment right to free speech, and can discuss any topics they wish with faculty and staff. The Alabama Legislature is not scheduled to reconvene until February 2026.
Huntsville Moms for Liberty fundraising event will host Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene
- The Madison County chapter of Moms for Liberty, a conservative political group, has inspired plans for protests after announcing U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene as one of the speakers for a fundraising dinner.
- Greene is a controversial political figure that represents one of the most far-right-leaning districts in Georgia, according to the Cook Partisan Voting Index.
- Counter-protests against the event are being organized on both social media and online political forums against Greene’s appearance and Moms for Liberty.
Our articles you might have missed
- With summer right around the corner, you might be looking for new places to visit with family. Check out our latest article by Josie Jones, which covers Butch Anthony’s Museum of Wonder. Located in Seale, the museum promotes itself as “the world’s first drive through museum.”
Announcements
- We’ve officially launched the Alabama Spotlight, our new multimedia project focusing on people, places and things unique to Alabama. You can listen to the first episode about our trip to Spectre, an abandoned movie set from the film “Big Fish” on Spotify.
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