Current Cases
Alabama department of corrections (ADOC)
MENEFEE LAW is currently litigating against the Alabama Department of Corrections (ADOC) and investigating additional cases to bring against ADOC. Journalists described the system’s conditions as the “[s]hameful neglect and abuse of thousands of Alabamians,” a federal district judge found its provision of psychiatric medical care to be “horrendously inadequate,” the Department of Justice stated plainly that “Alabama is incarcerating prisoners under conditions that pose a substantial risk of serious harm and death,” and a Jefferson County judge called Alabama’s state prisons “third world prisons.”
Prisoner deaths in ADOC custody reached an all time high: In 2022, ADOC recorded approximately 270 deaths in custody, at the time the highest ever. In 2023, 325 people died in ADOC prisons. The death rate in Alabama prisons has climbed to five times the national average.
ADOC engages in efforts to cover up civil rights violations and prisoner deaths: The Department of Justice has noted that ADOC’s “unreported homicides provide reasonable cause to believe that ADOC’s homicide rate is higher than what ADOC has publicly reported” and “[t[his is especially concerning given that these incident reports are used for public statistical reporting as required by law.” ADOC prevents families from learning when a loved one is hospitalized or dead. For example, wardens moved Darlene Shipp's son from hospital to hospital to prevent her from seeing her son.
ABOVE: Families protest the loss of their loved ones at the state Capitol in March 2023. Photo credit: John H. Glenn, Alabama Political Reporter
Robert Earl Council
Council v. Hamm et al.2:23-cv-658 (M.D. Ala).
Lawsuit on behalf of incarcerated activist Plaintiff Robert Earl Council aka Kinetik Justice. Mr. Council is an incarcerated organizer and activist who co-founded the Free Alabama Movement. FAM resists and educates others within the ADOC to resist unconstitutional conditions and unlawful forced labor demands. Mr. Council helps incarcerated individuals access legal resources and exposes unconstitutional ADOC practices to the media. In response, Mr. Council has been subjected to long stretches of solitary confinement and has been beaten, strip searched, exposed to chemical agents, harassed, and psychologically abused by ADOC officials.
Co-counsel: Civil Rights Corps
Renney v. Alabama Department of Corrections et al 5:2023-cv-00361 (N.D. Ala).
Menefee Law brought suit against the Alabama Department of Corrections ("ADOC") and Wexford Correctional Healthcare on behalf of Joseph Allen Renney, an Alabama man currently incarcerated at Limestone correctional facility. Mr. Renney is a diabetic who suffered a partial amputation of his left foot, including all of his left toes, after a nearly two year delay in medical attention. The delays and denials of treatment result from ADOC and Wexford’s policies of inadequate care and ADOC's understaffing and over incarceration crisis.
Co-counsel: National Police Accountability Project
Brooks v. Edmonds, 2:21-cv-01028 (N.D. Ala)
Menefee Law represents Mr. Brooks in his case against Akeem Edmonds, a correctional officer employed at Donaldson Correctional Facility. Officer Edmonds used excessive force against Mr. Brooks when removing Mr. Brooks from his cell, violating his constitutional rights. Officer Edmonds sprayed Mr. Brooks twice in the face with mace, burned Mr. Brooks’ forearms, leaving him with third-degree burns, and then sexually assaulted Mr. Brooks. Menefee Law seeks justice for Mr. Brooks and compensation for the injuries and emotional anguish Mr. Brooks has suffered.
Co-counsel: Dentons Sirorte, Birmingham, AL