COVID-19 in custody: Alabama ranks 9th for inmate deaths

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — At the Bibb Correctional Facility in Alabama, the old prison chapel has been turned into a quarantine zone. The sound of coughing is constant. And some people appear afraid to enter the room.

An inmate described life in the quarantine to The Associated Press, speaking anonymously for fear of retaliation. The prison system has enforced the wearing of masks among inmates, but he said crowded dormitories like his offer nowhere to hide from the virus.

He said he became so weak he could not stand.

“He said they are just laying around like flies,” said Bonita Jackson, whose brother is a Bibb inmate who was hospitalized. “You can’t hardly hear him. He is gasping for breath.”

As coronavirus cases skyrocket nationwide, they are also rising again in prisons, which are plagued by close contact and lack of good hygiene. In Alabama prisons alone, 34 people — 32 inmates and two staff members — have died from COVID-19 since the pandemic began. That ranks ninth in the country for the number of COVID-19 deaths per 10,000 inmates, according to figures compiled by The Associated Press and the Marshall Project.

Criminal justice reform advocates have called for the release of vulnerable and elderly inmates and an increase in paroles to alleviate extreme overcrowding, as well as the mass testing of inmates.

“These numbers are so disturbing, but not at all surprising given the culture and conditions in Alabama prisons. The Department of Corrections has failed to provide for the basic safety of people in its custody for years and COVID has escalated those failures,” said Carla Crowder, executive director of Alabama Appleseed Center for Law and Justice.

“What people should understand is that it did not have to be this bad,” she said.

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