The Department of Justice released a report on Wednesday following an investigation into Alabama's prison system, which the department says is in violation of the Constitution's Eighth Amendment. The state, per the report, has failed to adequately protect inmates from violence and sexual abuses and houses them in unsafe conditions.
The DOJ's Civil Rights Division worked with the U.S. Attorney's Offices for the Northern, Middle, and Southern Districts of Alabama to reach the conclusion. Per The Associated Press, the report condemns "virtually every aspect of prison operations." Poor staff training, a free flow of contraband, a high suicide rate, and widespread violence — including reported 600 inmate-on-inmate sexual assaults between late 2016 and April 2018 — plague the 13 state penitentiaries, which house around 16,000 inmates in overcrowded conditions.
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