MONTGOMERY, Ala. – In a letter sent Wednesday, Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall’s office disputed a claim made last week that his office is prohibiting the Alabama Department of Corrections from settling federal lawsuits related to the condition of the state’s prisons.
During a July 6 meeting of the Joint Contract Review Committee, Alabama Department of Corrections Attorney Mandy Spiers updated committee members on the various contracts her department had with private entities. Many of those contracts, including one capped at $9.9 million, were for attorneys to represent the state in pending lawsuits over the condition of the state’s prisons.
Perhaps the most notable of these lawsuits is one filed by the federal government in 2020, which alleges Alabama prisoners are subject to harsh, inhumane and dangerous conditions, violating their 8th amendment rights. Alabama’s prison system could be partially or fully taken over by the federal government were a judge to rule in the federal government’s favor.
When pressed over the growing legal costs by committee member Rep. Chris England, D-Tuscaloosa, Spiers said that “the Attorney General’s office (had) prohibited us from settling this case multiple times.”
Katherine Robertson, Marshall’s chief counsel, sent a letter via email to Sen. Dan Roberts, R-Mountain Brook, the chair of the committee, disputing that the office had ever objected to engaging in settlement talks related to the federal lawsuit.
“This statement was false yet appears to have not yet been corrected by the agency,” Robertson said..
“The individual who made this statement has had no discussions with this office about this case and inexplicably misrepresented the state’s current and historical position. As our attorney of record informed the court months ago, the state is willing to return to settlement negotiations with the Department of Justice as soon as (they) accept our invitation.”
Robertson further wrote that the comment “serves only to complicate and undermine our efforts to resolve this matter,” and that ultimately, he and his office are working to resolve the lawsuit “in a manner that best serves the people of Alabama.”
Roberts told Alabama Daily News that it wasn’t his place to get involved in the matter, and that in part due to the ongoing special session to approve a new congressional map, he had not reached out to the ADOC for clarification on Spiers’ comment.
“We don’t get involved with these two things, but I think they were clearing up the record of the comment that was made, and I think the letter’s self-explanatory on that,” he said.
Neither the Department of Corrections nor Spiers immediately responded to requests from Alabama Daily News for comment.
Alabama has faced several lawsuits over its prisons, including a 2014 lawsuit filed by the Southern Poverty Law Center on behalf of a group of inmates over the lack of medical and mental health care provided to prisoners. That case that is still being litigated.
The ADOC’s legal fees have grown over the years; in 2012, its legal expenses were around $1.1 million. By July 5 of 2023, ADOC’s legal fees already hit around $2 million.