Protesters March Against TUSCO Sheriff, Demand COVID-19 Jail Data

TUSCALOOSA, AL. — A grassroots group of about 50 protestors circled the Tuscaloosa County Courthouse and the sheriff's office Saturday, demanding that Sheriff Ron Abernathy release data detailing coronavirus cases among inmates and staff at the county jail. The demonstrators, some from the local group T-Town Freedom Marchers, also called for the release of low-level offenders as community spreading of the virus sends local hospitalization numbers soaring.

Click here to subscribe to our daily email newsletters and breaking news alerts delivered to your inbox and mobile devices for free. You can also support local journalism by donating as little as $5 a month to become a supporting member or by downloading our free Patch mobile app.

The public outcry comes following a lawsuit filed in November by the Montgomery-based Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) against Abernathy, alleging the sheriff had not complied with the Alabama Open Records Act after the group requested public information regarding COVID-19 outbreaks in the jail. The requests were made over the course of four months and the SPLC has still yet to receive a response.

Mike Altman was one of the organizers of Saturday's demonstration and spoke into a megaphone to the crowd standing in the shadow of the large Christmas tree on the Tuscaloosa County Courthouse's lawn.

"[Abernathy] said he will have the data soon, it's under review and it's three to four pages," Altman said. "If anyone has looked at the SPLC lawsuit, what they're asking for, it should be way more than three or four pages. So I don't know what size font they're using, I also don't know why it took four months and a lawsuit to get three or four pages."

Patch also submitted a series of formal public records requests this week to the sheriff's office, as questions have been raised by the public concerning jail staffing/turnover, CARES Act expenditures and staff overtime. While Alabama's comparatively lax public records laws do provide some access to citizens and the media, government entities are not bound by penalty of law to respond to public records requests within a set time-frame.

A failed push in the state legislature in March to implement a 14-day time limit on a response from government officials was the latest attempt at an overhaul of the state's public records law, which remains an unpopular reform issue among state lawmakers.

Ahead of Saturday's protest, Altman provided data related to local media by Abernathy following the lawsuit being filed, reporting that the jail has only tested about 7% of more than 6,000 bookings since March. What's more, demonstrators quoted Abernathy's self-reporting of a 39% positivity rate in the Tuscaloosa County Jail.

Other data points raised by Altman allege that 156 coronavirus cases had been previously unreported to the public, at a time when the jail is reportedly operating at around 135% of its inmate capacity.

"Hearing the stories, a lot of people who had just terrible experiences in the jail in terms of the safety there," Altman told Patch as he marched carrying a sign. "We don't know how bad it is. We don't have the data."

One anecdote provided also claims organizers tried to give donations of personal protective equipment (PPE) to the jail, with a church wanting to hold a PPE and mask drive for the inmates. This comes at a time when organizers are citing unverified claims of a lack of PPE for inmates, resulting in some having to reuse masks.

“I called the jail eight or 10 times and left messages saying we wanted to give them masks," Emily Altman said. "They never answered."

Maggie Yancey was one of the organizers of the protest and a petition calling for Abernathy to release the data, in addition to the other demands. As of the publication of this story, the Change.org petition had garnered 216 signatures toward its goal of 500.

Yancey focused a major part of her speech to the crowd of demonstrators on the safety of the jail's staff, saying they are put at risk every day to then go back out into the community and expose their families and others. The group also cited a recent report from the Prison Policy Initiative, claiming that incarceration contributed to 301 cases of COVID-19 in Tuscaloosa County from May 1 to Aug. 1.

"The truth is that Abernathy is breaking his oath of office and putting all Tuscaloosa residents in danger in the process," she said. "No more hiding. No more excuses. No more lies. Public outcry is needed for those voices that can't speak up against him, like his own staff and prisoners fearful of retaliation."

The sheriff's office has stood by a position of not providing public comment on the ongoing litigation, but has expressed to Patch in recent weeks that the data requested by the SPLC will be released.

Follow Patch here for updates or on Facebook and Twitter.