Alabama prisons

Incarcerated men in the Alabama prison system risked their safety to feed shocking footage of their horrifying living conditions to a pair of documentary filmmakers. The result is “The Alabama Solution,” which premiered this week at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah.

The annual Sundance Film Festival begins Thursday in Park City, Utah. There are about 90 features premiering across the 11 days, including one surrounding the Alabama prison system, with screenings starting early in the morning through midnight.

A correctional officer in Alabama has been arrested on suspicion of smuggling methamphetamine into the maximum-security prison where she worked. A complaint alleges the 48-year-old officer smuggled the drugs into the Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore and then distributed it to an incarcerated person.

The federal government is rolling back almost all oversight over an Alabama women's prison on Thursday, according to the state's Department of Corrections. Nine years ago, the Department of Justice published a report that found chronic sexual abuse at the facility and initiated a consent decree.

A second Alabama jailer has agreed to plead guilty to federal charges for her “minimal role” in the death of a mentally ill man who died of hypothermia after being held naked in a concrete cell.

Alabama Corrections Commissioner John Hamm say the state is making progress in increasing prison security staff, but will not meet a federal judge’s directive to add 2,000 more officers within a year. He said the state’s new $1 billion 4,000-bed prison is scheduled to be completed in 2026.

The warden of an Alabama prison was arrested on drug charges, officials with the state prison system confirmed.

Federal prosecutors say a former Alabama prisons officer was convicted of civil rights charges for the beating of three prisoners with a baton and writing a false report to cover up the beatings.

Alabama lawmakers advanced legislation that would restrict good behavior incentives for some prisoners to get early release. The Senate Judiciary Committee approved the bill Wednesday.

Alabama legislative leaders will proceed with plans to build two super-size prisons. This comes after the Alabama Corrections Institution Finance Authority increased the spending cap for the 4,000-bed prison now under construction in Elmore County, from $623 million to $975 million.