Bill Lunsford, an attorney with Butler Snow in Montgomery, recently received Alabama Department of Corrections legal contracts worth $14.9 million. Here is a look at reasoning behind that decision and the concerns some lawmakers have, via ALReflector:
Lawmakers Thursday expressed concerns about the cost of litigation involving the Alabama Department of Corrections.
The committee approved the contracts. But Rep. Chris England, D-Tuscaloosa, said the ongoing – and increasing – costs of DOC litigation concerned him.Sen. Dan Roberts, R-Mountain Brook, the chair of the committee, said in an interview after the meeting that the legal contracts are effectively continuations of existing contracts.
That, however, did little to assuage the concerns of lawmakers at the meeting about the size and scope of the“That is a lot of cases,” said Sen. Greg Albritton, R-Atmore. “Is one individual able to handle all those cases and how much do all those cases total out to be?” . The U.S. Department of Justice sued DOC in 2020, alleging conditions in the state’s men’s prisons constituted a violation of inmates’ Eighth Amendment protections against cruel and unusual punishment.Another 16 contracts each worth $200,000 involve lawsuits over mental health services.
Speirs said there are two categories of cases that are ongoing with Corrections: damages and injunctive relief. “Our recruiting class that we are starting this fall is one of our largest that we have ever had,” Speirs said.
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