Federal government to roll back oversight on Alabama women’s prison after nine years

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — The federal government will roll back almost all oversight over an Alabama women’s prison on Thursday, according to court filings, nine years after the Department of Justice found chronic sexual abuse at the facility and accused the state of violating the constitutional rights of incarcerated women.

The Alabama Department of Corrections announced on Thursday that the federal government would terminate 38 of the 44 provisions of the 2015 consent decree with the Julia Tutwiler Prison in Wetumpka, Alabama. The consent decree outlined the steps that the prison needed to take to prevent rampant sexual violence and initiated federal oversight.

Court filings said that the provisions were terminated as the result of the “State’s sustained, substantial compliance with a majority of the provisions of the Consent Decree.”

“I am thankful for the men and women who are dedicated to our mission at Tutwiler,” said Alabama Department of Corrections Commissioner John Hamm in a news release. Hamm added that the move “is a credit to our entire team and their dedication to our department and our state. We look forward to ending all court oversight of Tutwiler in the near future.”

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