Resolution: Tuscaloosa Democrats Call on Sheriff Abernathy to Protect Health and Safety in the Jail

At the January 16 business meeting of the Tuscaloosa Co. Democratic Party, the Executive Committee unanimously passed a resolution calling on Sheriff Abernathy to improve the COVID-19 response at the Tuscaloosa Co. Jail. The resolution is in response to a lawsuit brought by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) in November 2020 that requests timely and transparent information about COVID-19 cases in the Tuscaloosa Co. Jail. The Sheriff has still not complied with the SPLC’s request.

The full text of the resolution is produced below:

Whereas, Sheriff Ron Abernathy has not complied with the Southern Policy Law Center’s requests for timely and complete information, communications, and records regarding COVID-19 in the Tuscaloosa County Jail, and

Whereas, incarcerated people and jail staff have a basic human right for the protection of their health, and

Whereas, The people of Tuscaloosa County have the right to know how incarcerated people and staff in the jail are being protected from COVID-19, and

Whereas, Unnecessarily crowded conditions in the Tuscaloosa County Jail threaten the health and safety of incarcerated people, staff, and the rest of our community,

Resolved, the Tuscaloosa County Democratic Party calls on Sheriff Abernathy to take the following measures for the health and safety of inmates and law enforcement officers in the Tuscaloosa County Jail, and the broader community:

Immediately release all information, records, and communications requested by the SPLC on COVID-19 related procedures and statistics, to include not only numbers of known active cases, but numbers of tests, positivity rates, and protocols.
Begin an in-house testing program that tests everyone currently in the jail and tests every person upon booking into the jail.
Create a jail COVID dashboard informing the public weekly on the number of active COVID cases in the jail, the number of new cases, the number of tests administered, and the number of untested inmates.
The collection of and distribution of personal protective equipment to all inmates and jail staff, including new disposable masks for inmates daily.
The immediate emergency release of all medically vulnerable people incarcerated in the jail.
The reduction of jail and admission and overall population by following the recommendations of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. (Available here: http://civilrightsdocs.info/pdf/policy/letters/2020/Coalition_Letter_to_NSA_COVID-19_Incarceration_03_23_20.pdf)