Holman Correctional Facility

Last updated

Holman Correctional Facility
Seal of the Alabama Department of Corrections.svg
Holman Correctional Facility
Location Atmore, Alabama
StatusOpen
Security classMaximum
Capacity1002
OpenedDecember 1969
Managed by Alabama Department of Corrections
Warden Terry Raybon

William C. Holman Correctional Facility is an Alabama Department of Corrections prison located in Atmore, Alabama. [1] The facility is along Alabama State Highway 21. [2] [3]

Contents

The facility was originally built to house 581 inmates. Holman held as many as one thousand prisoners. [4] It has 632 general population beds, 200 single cells, and 170 death row cells, for a capacity of 1002 maximum through minimum-custody inmates, including a large contingent of life without parole inmates. The death chamber is located at Holman, where all state executions are conducted. Holman also operates two major correctional industries within the facility's perimeter: a license plate plant and a sewing factory. [5]

Holman Correctional Facility was the subject of a documentary on MSNBC entitled Lockup: Holman Extended Stay (2006). [6] The warden at Holman Correctional Facility at the time was Grantt Culliver, who served from 2002 from 2009. [7] The current warden is Terry Raybon. [5]

In 2016 the prison had the reputation of being the most violent in the country, due to overcrowding and understaffing. That year the Department of Justice initiated an investigation at the prison into conditions for both prisoners and officers. [8]

History

Opened during December 1969, Holman originally had a basic capacity for 520 medium-custody inmates, including a death row cellblock with a capacity of 20. It was constructed for $5,000,000 during the administration of Governor Lurleen Wallace and Alabama Department of Corrections Commissioner James T. Hagan. The prisoners of the old Kilby Prison were moved to Holman Prison. It was named in honor of a former warden, William C. Holman. [2]

Due in part to legislative rules creating long-term penalties for drug crimes, the prison population at Holman and other facilities began to climb in the 1970s. On Friday August 29, 1975, two U.S. federal district court judges, William Brevard Hand and Frank M. Johnson Jr., ordered Alabama authorities to stop sending any more prisoners to Holman, Fountain Correctional Facility, Draper Correctional Facility, and the Medical and Diagnostic Center, due to overcrowding; the four prisons, designed to hold 2,212 prisoners, were holding about 3,800. [9]

Since Holman opened, it gained a reputation for being the most violent prison in Alabama, a situation exacerbated by the years of overcrowding. In 1974 an employee was killed by an inmate with a knife. In 1985 a large riot occurred in which 22 men were taken hostage. [10]

2000s

Staff and prisoners said that after Grantt Culliver became the warden in 2002, violence decreased. This was covered in the documentary Lockup: Holman Correctional Facility (2006), which MSNBC produced. Hillary Heath, the inside producer of Lockup, said that it is difficult for reputations to die down, so Holman still has a reputation for violence. [11]

The city of Atmore annexed the land in the prison in 2008, in accordance with a request from the state department of corrections. [12]

2016

By 2016 violence had increased again. The 2016 U.S. prison strike started here at Holman correctional facility and spread to more than 10 states.[ citation needed ]The prison strike wanted to increase wages for prison labor and improve conditions across prisons in the United States.

Riots broke out in protest against conditions in March 2016. [13] [14] In the first riot fires were set in a prison dorm; both the warden and a prison guard sustained stab wounds. [15] An individual recorded portions of the riot on a cell phone and posted the recordings to social media sites. [16]

On September 1, 2016, Correctional Officer Kenneth Bettis died from a stab wound while performing his duties overseeing prisoners in the dining hall of the prison. Later that month, a group of corrections officers went on strike over safety concerns and overcrowding. [8] Prisoners refer to the facility as a "slaughterhouse," as stabbings are a routine occurrence. [17]

2019

Thirty inmates were transferred from St. Clair Correctional Facility. Eight of them were placed in solitary confinement, because warden Cynthia Smith said "significant safety and security concerns" to staff and other inmates would arise from them being placed in general population. Those eight men began a hunger strike on March 18, 2019, each stating that: "I am not suicidal, but I'm doing this because I'm being held in Holman Correctional Facility segregation without any justifiable reasons why." [18]

2020

In late January 2020, the state announced most of the site would be closed due to severe deterioration of underground utilities that served the prison. Most inmates were moved from Holman to other facilities. However, death row and the execution chamber were to remain at Holman. [19]

In July 2020, Department of Corrections Commissioner Jefferson Dunn provided an update to state legislators on the status of the state prison system. He stated that the current number of inmates being housed at Holman was 314 following the closure of much of the facility and relocation of many inmates. [20]

Operations

The Gulf Coast area, where Holman is located, often has temperatures of 100 °F (38 °C) and high humidity during summer. The prison administration has not installed air conditioning, so the prison has hundreds of industrial fans used for moving the air in an attempt to provide cooling. The hottest areas in the prison are the kitchen facilities. [11]

Staff shortages are made worse by absenteeism. On some days, as few as nine guards are on duty, leaving guards in only two of the six towers on the perimeter. Annual staff turnover is reported to be 60 percent. [8] As a result of a hiring freeze in 2014, mandatory overtime was commonly required for the guards. [21]

In December 2018, press reports indicated the facility had only 72 of the 195 guards needed for routine operations without officers on overtime. [22]

Demographics

The prison has a capacity of over 800 prisoners. [23] The state's death row has a capacity of fifty-six but in early 2017 held almost two hundred men. [24]

Prisoner life

Hillary Heath, the inside producer of Lockup, said that when she asked prisoners to describe Holman, they used names like "The Slaughterhouse", "Slaughter Pen of the South", and "House of Pain", which referred to the frequent stabbings and violent attacks committed among the prisoners. The names "The Bottom" and "The Pit" refer to the prison's location in southern Alabama. One inmate said that, within the state, "you can't get any lower than this." [11]

Heath reported that Holman inmates made "julep," a homegrown whiskey, using water, sugar, and yeast. She described julep as a brown liquid with dark floating chunks, resembling raw sewage. She said its odor "was not as vile as I imagined", and it smelled like sourdough bread and prunes. [11]

Prisoners who commit indecent exposure violate rule #38, thus indecent exposure is referred to by inmates as "doing a '38'". Violating rule 38 of ADOC policy requires an inmate to attend sex addiction courses. [11]

Notable prisoners

Death row (does not include prisoners who were sent to Holman only for their executions):

Non-death row:

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Folsom State Prison</span> Prison in Folsom, California, United States

Folsom California State Prison is a California State Prison in Folsom, California, U.S., approximately 20 miles (32 km) northeast of the state capital of Sacramento. It is one of 34 adult institutions operated by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">San Quentin Rehabilitation Center</span> Mens prison in California, US

San Quentin Rehabilitation Center (SQ), formerly known as San Quentin State Prison, is a California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation state prison for men, located north of San Francisco in the unincorporated place of San Quentin in Marin County.

Yellow Mama is the electric chair of the United States state of Alabama. It was used for executions from 1927 to 2002.

Auburn Correctional Facility is a state prison on State Street in Auburn, New York, United States. It was built on land that was once a Cayuga village. It is classified as a maximum security facility.

James Barney Hubbard was an American convicted murderer who was sentenced to death by the state of Alabama in 1977 for the murder of 62-year-old Lillian Montgomery, whom Hubbard had been living with following his release from prison.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cummins Unit</span> Unincorporated community in Arkansas, United States

The Cummins Unit is an Arkansas Department of Corrections prison in unincorporated Lincoln County, Arkansas, United States, in the Arkansas Delta region. It is located along U.S. Route 65, near Grady, Gould, and Varner, 28 miles (45 km) south of Pine Bluff, and 60 miles (97 km) southeast of Little Rock.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Potosi Correctional Center</span> Maximum security prison located in Missouri, US

Potosi Correctional Center (PCC) is a Missouri Department of Corrections prison located in unincorporated Washington County, Missouri, near Mineral Point. The facility currently houses 800 death row, maximum security and high-risk male inmates.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oregon State Penitentiary</span> Prison in Salem, Oregon, U.S.

Oregon State Penitentiary (OSP), also known as Oregon State Prison, is a maximum security prison in the northwest United States in Salem, Oregon. Originally opened in Portland 173 years ago in 1851, it relocated to Salem fifteen years later. The 2,242-capacity prison is the oldest in the state; the all-male facility is operated by the Oregon Department of Corrections (ODOC). OSP contains an intensive management wing, which is being transformed into a psychiatric facility for mentally ill prisoners throughout Oregon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stateville Correctional Center</span> Maximum security prison near Joliet, IL

Stateville Correctional Center (SCC) is a maximum security state prison for men in Crest Hill, Illinois, United States, near Chicago. It is a part of the Illinois Department of Corrections.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Southern Ohio Correctional Facility</span> Maximum security prison in Scioto County, Ohio, U.S.

The Southern Ohio Correctional Facility is a maximum security prison located just outside Lucasville in Scioto County, Ohio. The prison was constructed in 1972. As of 2023, the warden is Cindy Davis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oklahoma State Penitentiary</span> Prison in McAlester, Oklahoma, U.S

The Oklahoma State Penitentiary, nicknamed "Big Mac", is a prison of the Oklahoma Department of Corrections located in McAlester, Oklahoma, on 1,556 acres (6.30 km2). Opened in 1908 with 50 inmates in makeshift facilities, today the prison holds more than 750 male offenders, the vast majority of which are maximum-security inmates. They also hold many death row prisoners.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kentucky State Penitentiary</span> Maximum security prison located in Eddyville, Kentucky

The Kentucky State Penitentiary (KSP), also known as the "Castle on the Cumberland", is a maximum security and supermax prison with capacity for 856 prisoners located in Eddyville, Kentucky on Lake Barkley on the Cumberland River, about 4.8 kilometres (3 mi) from downtown Eddyville. It is managed by the Kentucky Department of Corrections. Completed in 1886, it is Kentucky's oldest prison facility and the only commonwealth-owned facility with supermax units. The penitentiary houses Kentucky's male death row inmates and the commonwealth's execution facility. As of 2015, it had approximately 350 staff members and an annual operating budget of $20 million. In most cases, inmates are not sent directly to the penitentiary after sentencing but are sent there because of violent or disruptive behavior committed in other less secure correctional facilities in the commonwealth. This was Kentucky's second penitentiary: the first was made uninhabitable by a flood in 1937.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kilby Correctional Facility</span> Prison in Alabama, US

Kilby Correctional Facility is an Alabama Department of Corrections (ADOC) prison for the state of Alabama, located in Mt. Meigs, an unincorporated area in Montgomery County, Alabama, with a capacity to house over 1,400 inmates. A section of the city of Montgomery covers a portion of the prison facility.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alabama Department of Corrections</span> Government agency in Alabama, United States

The Alabama Department of Corrections (ADOC) is the agency responsible for incarceration of convicted felons in the state of Alabama in the United States. It is headquartered in the Alabama Criminal Justice Center in Montgomery.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Missouri State Penitentiary</span> Former prison in Jefferson City, Missouri, United States

The Missouri State Penitentiary was a prison in Jefferson City, Missouri, that operated from 1836 to 2004. Part of the Missouri Department of Corrections, it served as the state of Missouri's primary maximum security institution. Before it closed, it was the oldest operating penal facility west of the Mississippi River. It was replaced by the Jefferson City Correctional Center, which opened on September 15, 2004. The penitentiary is now a tourist attraction, and guided tours are offered.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Julia Tutwiler Prison for Women</span> Prison in Wetumpka, Alabama, United States

The Julia Tutwiler Prison for Women is a prison for women of the Alabama Department of Corrections (ADOC), located in Wetumpka, Alabama. All female inmates entering ADOC are sent to the receiving unit in Tutwiler. Tutwiler houses Alabama's female death row, which qualifies it for the "maximum security" classification.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fountain Correctional Facility</span>

Fountain Correctional Facility is an Alabama Department of Corrections prison located in Atmore, Alabama. The 8,200-acre (3,300 ha) facility is located along Alabama Highway 21, about 7 miles (11 km) north of the Atmore city center.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Walter Moody</span> American convicted murderer (1935–2018)

Walter Leroy Moody Jr. was an American convicted murderer who was sentenced to death and executed in Alabama for the 1989 letter bomb murder of Robert S. Vance, a U.S. federal judge serving on the Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit.

Madison v. Alabama, 586 U.S. ___ (2019), was a United States Supreme Court case regarding the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution, barring cruel and unusual punishment. The case deals with whether the Eighth Amendment prohibits executing a person for a crime they do not remember.

References

  1. ↑ "2020 CENSUS - CENSUS BLOCK MAP (INDEX): Atmore city, AL" (PDF). U.S. Census Bureau . Retrieved August 1, 2022. Holman Corr Facility
  2. 1 2 "Annual Report Fiscal Year 2003." Alabama Department of Corrections. 33/84. Retrieved on August 15, 2010.
  3. ↑ "William C. Holman Correctional Facility". Alabama Department of Corrections. Retrieved September 26, 2024.
  4. ↑ Alan, Blinder (March 15, 2016). "Alabama Prison Uprisings Come as State Grapples With How to Fix System". New York Times. Retrieved March 16, 2016.
  5. 1 2 "Holman Correctional Facility." Alabama Department of Corrections. Retrieved on August 15, 2010.
  6. ↑ Lockup: Holman Extended Stay, NBC News
  7. ↑ "Former Holman warden takes serene outlook after 20 executions". Posted: March 18, 2010, 9:32 AM CDT, Updated March 18, 2010, 11:00 AM CDT. Retrieved on April 20, 2015
  8. 1 2 3 Matthew Teague, " 'It's a bloodbath': staff describe life inside America's most violent prison", The Guardian, October 21, 2016; accessed June 4, 2017
  9. ↑ "Court closes Alabama prison gates," St. Petersburg Times , August 30, 1975. 2A. Retrieved from Google Books (3 of 56) on July 5, 2011.
  10. ↑ Treadwell, David (April 16, 1985). "Warden Among Those Seized; Seven Injured : 22 Freed as Alabama Prison Riot Ends". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 29, 2017.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 "Lockup: Holman Correctional Facility, (News.msn.com/id/15952548/ns/NBC News_tv-documentaries/ Archive) NBC News , December 11, 2006, Retrieved on March 5, 2011.
  12. ↑ Prestridge, Adam (August 13, 2008). "City council annexes 7,000 acres". Atmore Advance . Retrieved August 1, 2022.
  13. ↑ "Alabama prison on lockdown after riot, two stabbed" (Archive). Reuters. March 12, 2016. Retrieved on March 14, 2016.
  14. ↑ "List of demands from men incarcerated at Holman Prison in Alabama " San Francisco Bayview . March 15, 2016. Retrieved on March 21, 2016.
  15. ↑ "Warden, officer stabbed in Alabama prison riot". CNN . March 12, 2016.
  16. ↑ "Inmates capture prison riot on camera." CNN. March 12, 2016.
  17. ↑ Alabama Guards Stage Work Strike Months After Prisoner Uprising at Overcrowded Holman Facility. Democracy Now! September 28, 2016.
  18. ↑ Editor, Jenni Fink Senior; Politics (March 18, 2019). "Alabama Inmates on Hunger Strike to Protest Solitary". Newsweek. Retrieved February 27, 2024.{{cite web}}: |last1= has generic name (help)
  19. ↑ Benner, Katie (January 31, 2020). "Plans for Alabama's Deadly Prisons 'Won't Fix the Horrors'". New York Times. Retrieved February 1, 2020.
  20. ↑ "State senators briefed on prison construction plans". Alabama Political Reporter. July 13, 2020. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
  21. ↑ Kirby, Brendan (July 6, 2014). "Some Alabama corrections officers make more in overtime than regular pay, records show". AL.com. Retrieved March 29, 2017.
  22. ↑ "Report: 60 percent of security jobs vacant at Alabama prison". Associated Press. Retrieved December 19, 2018.
  23. ↑ "Annual Report Fiscal Year 2012" (Archive). Alabama Department of Corrections. facilities map, page 26.
  24. ↑ Harress, Christophe (February 12, 2017). "The architecture of violence in Alabama's prisons". AL.com. Retrieved March 29, 2017.
  25. ↑ "Alabama pays Ohio for holding Klansman," Associated Press at The Tuscaloosa News . September 25, 1994. 8B. Retrieved from Google News (12 of 132) on March 3, 2011. Quote: "His son, Henry Hays, was sentenced to death for the Donald murder. He awaits an execution date at Holman Prison."
  26. ↑ "Inmates Executed in Alabama Archived 2008-04-21 at the Wayback Machine ." Alabama Department of Corrections. Retrieved on March 3, 2011.
  27. ↑ "Moody Lawyer Quits." Associated Press at the Gadsden Times . B2. March 13, 1997. Retrieved from Google News (5 of 22) on March 3, 2011. Quote: "Moody, now at Holman Prison near Atmore, is serving seven federal life prison terms and was sentenced to death last month after the state trial in Birmingham."
  28. ↑ "MOODY, WALTER LEROY JR Archived 2012-03-20 at the Wayback Machine ." Alabama Department of Corrections. Retrieved on March 3, 2011.
  29. ↑ "Inmates on Deathrow". February 9, 2007. Archived from the original on February 9, 2007. Retrieved June 19, 2024.
  30. ↑ Hunter, Desiree. "Alabama death row inmate who challenged protocol dies." Associated Press at USA Today . April 23, 2008. Retrieved on March 3, 2011.
  31. ↑ Kirby, Brendan (May 27, 2010). "Thomas Whisenhant executed for 1976 kidnapping, rape and murder". The Huntsville Times . Archived from the original on December 27, 2021. Retrieved December 27, 2021.
  32. ↑ "Alabama executes inmate Nathaniel Woods". CNN . March 5, 2020.
  33. ↑ "Alabama puts to death Kenneth Smith in first known execution using nitrogen gas". January 25, 2024.
  34. ↑ "Church Bombing." Associated Press at WTVY . July 23, 2004. Retrieved on March 3, 2011.
  35. ↑ "Cherry." Kansas City Star . October 15, 2004. Page 5. Retrieved on March 3, 2011. Quote: "Cherry, 74, was taken from Holman Prison to Atmore Community Hospital on Wednesday, according to Brian Corbett, a spokesman for the Alabama Department of Corrections."
  36. ↑ "Birmingham Bomber Bobby Frank Cherry Dies in Prison at 74 (washingtonpost.com)". www.washingtonpost.com. Retrieved March 14, 2016.
  37. ↑ News-documentaries/t/lockup-holman-extended-stay/#.VuSD5NDqL7w Documentaries: Lockup: Holman Extended Stay, NBC News
  38. ↑ "Who Is Bobby Ray Gilbert?", WAFF.com
  39. ↑ Graczyk, Michael (September 20, 1989). "URGENT Former Elvis Impersonator Linked To Five Murders Executed In Texas". Associated Press . Retrieved October 3, 2021.
External image
Searchtool.svg Alabama's execution chamber

31°08′03″N87°26′59″W / 31.1343°N 87.4497°W / 31.1343; -87.4497

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.