The Alabama Department of Corrections says three more state inmates have died after contracting COVID-19. That brings the system's total number of inmate deaths from the illness to more than 50. The deaths include inmates Larry Gene Knight, Dennis Guyton, and Danny Charles Cunningham, all in their late sixties or early seventies. Those fatalities bring Alabama's total number of inmate deaths from the pandemic to 52. That total includes two prison staffers. The largest concentration of inmates sickened by the new coronavirus is at Bibb Correctional Facility. One hundred and sixty prisoners and almost 50 prison employees have tested positive. The Southern Poverty Law Center sued Tuscaloosa Sheriff Ron Abernathy for allegedly failing to release COVID data on the county jail. The Sheriff pledged to release the information, calling the situation a misunderstanding. In a related action, the U.S. Department of Justice sued the State of Alabama and its Department of Corrections earlier this month. DOJ alleges the State and its prison system is violating the constitutional rights of inmates through unsafe conditions. The Society of Professional Journalists credited Alabama Public Radio's 2016 documentary on state prison reform for prompting a DOJ investigation.
Alabama's COVID-19 prison deaths now at 50
