MONTGOMERY, Ala. — As Alabama’s Joint Prison Oversight Committee convened in Montgomery this week, advocates and families once again pressed lawmakers to address what they describe as an escalating humanitarian crisis inside the state’s prison walls.
Alabama currently incarcerates residents at a rate of 898 per 100,000—higher than any other democracy worldwide. State data reveal that over 45% of deaths in Alabama Department of Corrections (ADOC) custody in 2023 were the result of homicide, suicide, or fatal overdoses. Mortality rates inside state facilities are multiple times higher than for the general population: people are murdered in Alabama prisons at a rate more than five times the state average, and fatal overdoses occur at a rate over 16 times higher. The suicide rate among incarcerated people is more than double that of the general public. As of early 2025, these numbers remain among the worst in the nation.
Federal agencies and legal advocates have labeled Alabama prisons as “unconstitutional in their cruelty,” citing overcrowding, understaffing, frequent violence, and crumbling infrastructure. In a recent three-month span, over 50,000 grams of illicit drugs were found inside state prisons, and at least 38 ADOC staff members were arrested for contraband or abuse-related offenses.
Families who addressed the committee described years of inaction and pleaded for meaningful change. Reforms recommended by the U.S. Department of Justice—including basic safety upgrades, increased staff, and independent oversight—have largely not been realized, even as the state makes multibillion-dollar investments in new prison construction. Advocates warn that new buildings alone will not stem ongoing violence and systemic neglect inside Alabama prisons.
The stakes are clear to families and activists: as the Joint Prison Oversight Committee listens to testimony, they are calling for immediate, comprehensive reform to address what has become a defining moral issue for Alabama in 2025.