Alabama top stories in brief
- A second company has sued the Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission. The company in question, the Chicago-based Verano Holdings, is the only company originally issued a license in June that wasn’t offered a license again after the AMCC reexamined their evaluation process. The lawsuit alleges that the commission does not have the authority to revoke the award they previously gave.
- Alabama Political Reporter reported multiple violent incidents during the weekend of August 18-20 at Alabama Department of Correction Facilities. Louis Latham Jr. was struck in the head with a weight at Staton Correctional Facility. Pictures of the injury can be seen on APR’s website. APR has said that according to their sources, Latham was not given an MRI or CT scan to check for internal injuries. Latham was reportedly moved to a hospital. According to APR, they also received reports of several stabbings Monday morning, but ADOC has not responded to requests for comment.
- A new grant program started by the Alabama Department of Environmental Management will put up to $10 million in funds towards cleaning up trash along roadways. The new program is called the Right of Way Program and will allow counties to reimburse up to $150,000 a year for projects devoted to cleaning up alongside public roadways.
- The Alabama Supreme Court reversed the injunction that had halted the construction of a new bridge across Baldwin County’s Intercoastal Waterway. The injunction was originally issued by Montgomery County Circuit Court Judge Jimmy Pool in May. It came after Baldwin County Bridge Company, which owns a toll bridge just a mile from the planned new construction, alleged that the Alabama Department of Transportation’s director, John Cooper, acted in bad faith to damage BCBC.
Incarcerated man gains access to firearm in ADOC facility
An incarcerated man at Donaldson Correctional Facility gained possession of a gun earlier this month. A video on social media showed Derrol Shaw walking around the Alabama Department of Corrections facility with a semi-automatic pistol, saying that he would go out “in a blaze of glory.” The situation was eventually defused by other incarcerated men.
Recently, Alabama Appleseed released a report documenting the incident based upon interviews with those incarcerated at Donaldson and their family members.
It is unclear where the gun that Shaw had came from. Some of the men interviewed by Appleseed said that the gun was taken from a correctional officer, though officers are not allowed to carry guns inside the facility. Another insisted that the gun had been in the facility for some time.
Shaw opened doors to allow others incarcerated in Donaldson to roam the facility more freely. Eventually, one of the other incarcerated men convinced Shaw to hand over the gun. That man then placed the gun in a trash can and walked the can outside. He informed one of the officers in a watch tower what he was doing.
After the gun was removed, several of the incarcerated men put Shaw — who was bleeding profusely from a cut on his arm he said was sustained from razor wire — in a wheelchair and wheeled him outside.
The men told Appleseed that they were concerned Shaw would bleed to death or be beaten by officers if they didn’t intervene.
When asked by Appleseed if they could confirm the account of events given by incarcerated individuals, ADOC said they “cannot confirm any statements made by unsubstantiated sources.”
Shaw has been charged with “certain persons forbidden to possess a pistol, promoting prison contraband and making a terrorist threat,” though Appleseed says that none of these charges have been listed yet on the state’s legal database. An ADOC spokesperson told Appleseed they were unsure why the charges weren’t showing up. ADOC also shortened “certain persons forbidden to possess a pistol,” to just “certain persons forbidden to possess” in a press release sent to news organizations.
Our articles you might have missed
- In last week’s Roundup, we focused on covering new rules released by the Alabama Department of Public Health that regulate how birthing centers operate.
Upcoming articles
- The latest edition of The Breathing Room, “How to be a better friend,” by our managing editor, Hannah Irvin will come out this Wednesday. You check out past editions of The Breathing Room on our website.
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