Alabama prison system faces hearing on mental health

Alabama's prison system faces a hearing on how it provides mental health services to inmates.

Posted: Sep 18, 2018 9:19 AM

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — Alabama's prison system faces a hearing on how it provides mental health services to inmates.

Al.com reported U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson has ordered a hearing Tuesday in Montgomery on why the Alabama Department of Corrections should not be held in contempt of court for failing to meet deadlines for increasing mental health staffing.

Thompson ruled last year that mental health care in Alabama prisons was "horrendously inadequate" and violated the Eighth Amendment's prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment.

Thompson issued an order in February setting out deadlines in May, June and July for increasing mental health staff.

Lawyers for the state say their new prison health care contractor, Wexford Health Sources, Inc., has worked extensively to meet the goals and has made substantial progress.

Mississippi Coronavirus Cases

Data is updated nightly.

Cases: 501097

Reported Deaths: 9990

County	Cases	Deaths
Harrison	34338	538
DeSoto	32117	403
Hinds	31939	628
Jackson	24494	382
Rankin	21995	390
Lee	15543	235
Madison	14581	280
Jones	13851	242
Forrest	13453	251
Lauderdale	11991	317
Lowndes	11050	188
Lamar	10521	135
Pearl River	9533	237
Lafayette	8550	140
Hancock	7732	127
Washington	7438	158
Oktibbeha	7146	131
Monroe	6777	177
Warren	6694	176
Pontotoc	6664	102
Neshoba	6637	206
Panola	6531	131
Marshall	6467	134
Bolivar	6317	148
Union	6028	94
Pike	5820	152
Alcorn	5669	101
Lincoln	5436	135
George	4968	79
Scott	4728	98
Tippah	4692	81
Prentiss	4672	81
Leflore	4658	144
Itawamba	4636	105
Tate	4588	111
Adams	4587	119
Copiah	4485	92
Simpson	4446	116
Yazoo	4441	87
Wayne	4397	72
Covington	4288	94
Sunflower	4239	105
Marion	4226	108
Coahoma	4160	105
Leake	4082	88
Newton	3817	79
Grenada	3707	108
Stone	3603	64
Tishomingo	3597	92
Attala	3315	89
Jasper	3299	65
Winston	3142	91
Clay	3080	76
Chickasaw	3003	67
Clarke	2924	94
Calhoun	2794	46
Holmes	2679	87
Smith	2640	50
Yalobusha	2340	47
Tallahatchie	2280	51
Greene	2193	48
Walthall	2187	63
Lawrence	2129	40
Perry	2055	56
Amite	2051	56
Webster	2029	46
Noxubee	1867	40
Montgomery	1796	56
Jefferson Davis	1717	43
Carroll	1691	38
Tunica	1598	39
Benton	1488	38
Kemper	1419	41
Choctaw	1334	26
Claiborne	1327	37
Humphreys	1295	38
Franklin	1202	28
Quitman	1064	28
Wilkinson	1051	39
Jefferson	945	34
Sharkey	641	20
Issaquena	193	7
Unassigned	0	0

Alabama Coronavirus Cases

Cases: 820011

Reported Deaths: 15407

County	Cases	Deaths
Jefferson	114836	1924
Mobile	72609	1339
Madison	52337	697
Shelby	37622	350
Baldwin	37258	552
Tuscaloosa	35117	612
Montgomery	34116	740
Lee	23536	246
Calhoun	22232	488
Morgan	20952	378
Etowah	19834	500
Marshall	18372	304
Houston	17390	412
St. Clair	16064	339
Cullman	15454	293
Limestone	15349	199
Elmore	15264	286
Lauderdale	14314	295
Talladega	13842	283
DeKalb	12662	261
Walker	11206	370
Blount	10197	176
Autauga	10047	148
Jackson	9874	184
Coffee	9211	191
Dale	8900	185
Colbert	8871	201
Tallapoosa	7089	198
Escambia	6775	134
Covington	6713	183
Chilton	6645	162
Russell	6370	59
Franklin	5962	105
Chambers	5610	142
Marion	5007	127
Dallas	4975	200
Pike	4796	106
Clarke	4757	84
Geneva	4574	127
Winston	4519	103
Lawrence	4324	117
Bibb	4252	86
Barbour	3578	76
Marengo	3383	90
Monroe	3315	64
Randolph	3297	64
Butler	3264	96
Pickens	3163	84
Henry	3127	66
Hale	3116	88
Cherokee	3028	60
Fayette	2941	80
Washington	2516	51
Cleburne	2477	60
Crenshaw	2452	75
Clay	2433	68
Macon	2348	63
Lamar	2244	47
Conecuh	1862	53
Coosa	1802	40
Lowndes	1753	64
Wilcox	1689	39
Bullock	1517	44
Perry	1388	40
Sumter	1332	38
Greene	1267	44
Choctaw	885	27
Out of AL	0	0
Unassigned	0	0

Tupelo

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Columbus

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Oxford

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Starkville

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High pressure will dominate our weather forecast for our Tuesday. This means we will see some good weather for our Tuesday. However, some rain and thunderstorms will be in our weather forecast down the line with some more low pressure in our area.