Holman Correctional Facility Explained

Prison Name:Holman Correctional Facility
Location:Atmore, Alabama
Status:Open
Classification:Maximum
Capacity:1002
Opened:December 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, 9miles north of Atmore in southern Alabama.

The facility was originally built to house 581 inmates. Holman held as many as one thousand prisoners.[2] 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.[3]

Holman Correctional Facility was the subject of a documentary on MSNBC entitled Lockup: Holman Extended Stay (2006).[4] The warden at Holman Correctional Facility at the time was Grantt Culliver, who served from 2002 from 2009.[5] The current warden is Terry Raybon.

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.[6]

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.[7]

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.[8]

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.[9]

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.[10]

The city of Atmore annexed the land in the prison in 2008. The Alabama DOC asked for the city to annex the land.[11]

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.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.[12] [13] In the first riot fires were set in a prison dorm; both the warden and a prison guard sustained stab wounds.[14] An individual recorded portions of the riot on a cell phone and posted the recordings to social media sites.[15]

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.[6] Prisoners refer to the facility as a "slaughterhouse," as stabbings are a routine occurrence.[16]

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."[17]

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.[18]

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.[19]

Operations

The Gulf Coast area, where Holman is located, often has temperatures of 100°F 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.[10]

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.[6] As a result of a hiring freeze in 2014, mandatory overtime was commonly required for the guards.[20]

In December 2018, press reports indicated the facility had only 72 of the 195 guards needed for routine operations without officers on overtime.[21]

Demographics

The prison has a capacity of over 800 prisoners.[22] The state's death row has a capacity of fifty-six but in early 2017 held almost two hundred men.[23]

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."[10]

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.[10]

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.[10]

Notable prisoners

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

Non-death row:

See also

External links

31.1343°N -87.4497°W

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 2020 CENSUS - CENSUS BLOCK MAP (INDEX): Atmore city, AL . U.S. Census Bureau. 2022-08-01. Holman Corr Facility.
  2. News: Alan. Blinder. Alabama Prison Uprisings Come as State Grapples With How to Fix System. 16 March 2016. New York Times. 15 March 2016.
  3. "Holman Correctional Facility." Alabama Department of Corrections. Retrieved on August 15, 2010.
  4. https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna15952548 Lockup: Holman Extended Stay
  5. "Former Holman warden takes serene outlook after 20 executions". Posted: Mar 18, 2010 9:32 AM CDT, Updated Mar 18, 2010 11:00 AM CDT. Retrieved on April 20, 2015
  6. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/oct/21/holman-prison-alabama-guard-speaks-out Matthew Teague, " 'It's a bloodbath': staff describe life inside America's most violent prison"
  7. "Annual Report Fiscal Year 2003." Alabama Department of Corrections. 33/84. Retrieved on August 15, 2010.
  8. "Court closes Alabama prison gates," St. Petersburg Times, 30 August 1975. 2A. Retrieved from Google Books (3 of 56) on July 5, 2011.
  9. News: Treadwell. David. Warden Among Those Seized; Seven Injured : 22 Freed as Alabama Prison Riot Ends. 29 March 2017. Los Angeles Times. 16 April 1985.
  10. "Lockup: Holman Correctional Facility, (News.msn.com/id/15952548/ns/NBC News_tv-documentaries/ Archive) NBC News, 11 December 2006, Retrieved on March 5, 2011.
  11. Web site: Prestridge. Adam. City council annexes 7,000 acres. Atmore Advance. 2008-08-13. 2022-08-01.
  12. "Alabama prison on lockdown after riot, two stabbed" (Archive). Reuters. March 12, 2016. Retrieved on March 14, 2016.
  13. "List of demands from men incarcerated at Holman Prison in Alabama " San Francisco Bayview. March 15, 2016. Retrieved on March 21, 2016.
  14. Web site: Warden, officer stabbed in Alabama prison riot. CNN. 12 March 2016.
  15. "Inmates capture prison riot on camera." CNN. March 12, 2016.
  16. http://www.democracynow.org/2016/9/28/alabama_guards_stage_work_strike_months Alabama Guards Stage Work Strike Months After Prisoner Uprising at Overcrowded Holman Facility
  17. Web site: Editor . Jenni Fink Senior . Politics . 2019-03-18 . Alabama Inmates on Hunger Strike to Protest Solitary . 2024-02-27 . Newsweek . en.
  18. News: Benner . Katie . Plans for Alabama's Deadly Prisons 'Won't Fix the Horrors' . 1 February 2020 . New York Times . 31 January 2020.
  19. Web site: State senators briefed on prison construction plans . Alabama Political Reporter . 2020-07-13 . 2020-07-24.
  20. News: Kirby. Brendan. Some Alabama corrections officers make more in overtime than regular pay, records show. 29 March 2017. AL.com. 6 July 2014.
  21. News: Report: 60 percent of security jobs vacant at Alabama prison . 19 December 2018 . Associated Press.
  22. "Annual Report Fiscal Year 2012" (Archive). Alabama Department of Corrections. facilities map, page 26.
  23. News: Harress. Christophe. The architecture of violence in Alabama's prisons. 29 March 2017. AL.com. 12 February 2017.
  24. "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."
  25. "Inmates Executed in Alabama ." Alabama Department of Corrections. Retrieved on March 3, 2011.
  26. "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."
  27. "MOODY, WALTER LEROY JR ." Alabama Department of Corrections. Retrieved on March 3, 2011.
  28. Web site: 2007-02-09 . Inmates on Deathrow . 2024-06-19 . https://web.archive.org/web/20070209184118/http://www.doc.state.al.us/deathrow.asp . 2007-02-09 .
  29. Hunter, Desiree. "Alabama death row inmate who challenged protocol dies." Associated Press at USA Today. April 23, 2008. Retrieved on March 3, 2011.
  30. News: Kirby. Brendan. May 27, 2010. Thomas Whisenhant executed for 1976 kidnapping, rape and murder. The Huntsville Times. December 27, 2021. https://archive.today/20211227205912/https://www.al.com/live/2010/05/thomas_whisenhant_alabamas_lon.html. December 27, 2021. live.
  31. Web site: Alabama executes inmate Nathaniel Woods. CNN. 5 March 2020 .
  32. Web site: Alabama puts to death Kenneth Smith in first known execution using nitrogen gas . 25 January 2024 .
  33. "Church Bombing." Associated Press at WTVY. July 23, 2004. Retrieved on March 3, 2011.
  34. "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."
  35. Web site: Birmingham Bomber Bobby Frank Cherry Dies in Prison at 74 (washingtonpost.com). www.washingtonpost.com. 2016-03-14.
  36. https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna22083055 News-documentaries/t/lockup-holman-extended-stay/#.VuSD5NDqL7w Documentaries: Lockup: Holman Extended Stay
  37. http://www.waff.com/story/8771313/who-is-bobby-ray-gilbert "Who Is Bobby Ray Gilbert?"
  38. News: Graczyk. Michael. September 20, 1989. URGENT Former Elvis Impersonator Linked To Five Murders Executed In Texas. Associated Press. October 3, 2021.

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