In one of his early April interviews, Z predicts the problems that could be caused for the State if and when coronavirus spreads through its prisons:
"The Alabama prisons down here are already 180 percent overcapacity. And that's a fact " Okay, so now, if the coronavirus gets up in here, they're going to have to spend money on healthcare for inmates, and to send them to the hospital, and the hospitals are already crowded right now. So, there's a problem in the United States already, the economy is already down, as it is right now. So, you've got to take care of inmates, and while you're taking care of inmates, you're sending them to a hospital that's overcrowded, and that's gonna put extra pressure on the nurses and doctors at the hospital. And that's money coming from the government."
Z continues: "But then, on top of all that, if people die that's already in here, now you're facing lawsuits at the same time [as the pandemic unfolds], from the families. Now, on top of that, it's like a double lawsuit, because you're facing a lawsuit about the prison being overcrowded, and [about] the " people that die in prison from the coronavirus, because they ain't even supposed to be in the prison if the prison is overcrowded like it is."
Z repeats the figure. "180 percentThat's way overcapacity, man. Not 10 %, not 15 %, not 50 %, but 180 %. That's ridiculous, for real."
Z believes that most prisoners in Ventress, and in general, are incarcerated on nonviolent charges, often drug related.
"Usually, they either violated [probation or parole] for dirty urine. Or, like I said, they're drug addicts or drug dealers," he says.
"But, at the end of the day, in my opinion, this is just modern day slavery, for real," says Z.
"They just get free money, and free labor," he elaborates. "They lock everybody up for petty crimes, and off them petty crimes, they get free labor, and that's how they make a lot of money without paying."
In interviews later the same week and throughout the next week in April, other Ventress prisoners further discuss living conditions and overcrowding, which are severe problems that have always existed and are now more dangerous and complicated during the coronavirus.
All Ventress prisoners interviewed in April for HTR, and an article in APR, say the ADOC is not educating prisoners about coronavirus.
Also in the first week of April, Z claims that medical staff, classification officers, and possibly other workers in Ventress were just given two weeks off, beginning the same week the ADOC purported to implement coronavirus response measures, which included dropping certain medical fees.
Beginning in late March, Z and other prisoners start describing many problems with Ventress's phones. He says three out of the four phones in one dorm are broken. The demand on the use of the sole working phone has increased due to the ADOC's suspension of visitations.
Another Ventress prisoner, identified as "Y," also interviewing in the first weeks of April, says he, too, hasn't seen the ADOC educating prisoners about coronavirus, adding that he and other prisoners have only the prison's TV with which to stay updated on the pandemic, and the prison's TV has "no Alabama local news," he says, rendering it difficult to follow the spread of the pandemic near them.
Still in early April, a Ventress prisoner identified as "C" also speaks to HTR and APR, and he, too, says Ventress staff and administrators aren't educating or updating prisoners about coronavirus, and describes the same problems with the prison phones as Z and others.
Each Ventress prisoner interviewed during April describes an increase in violence in the prison throughout March and April.
C also says prisoners with flu-like and COVID-like symptoms are being moved to the prison's gymnasium.
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