Alabama is asking a federal cour to dismiss part of the lawsuit against the conditions of the state's prisons.
Attorneys claim the state cannot properly defend itself because the U.S. Justice Department did not specify which prisons deal with the issues mentioned in the lawsuit including broken locks and flooding. Because of this, lawyers are asking the judge to dismiss the parts of the complaint that deal with unsafe and unsanitary conditions and staffing.
The lawsuit was filed by the federal government in December after giving Alabama two warnings about the conditions of its prisons. The state argues that while conditions are bad, they are not unconstitutional.