May 20, 2021 Group Watch: Judge Dismisses Lawsuit Challenging Kay Ivey’s Prison Plan
A Montgomery County Circuit Judge dismissed a lawsuit filed by State Auditor Jim Zeigler and others challenging Gov. Ivey’s plan to lease and operate privately owned prisons. The court granted a request by the Alabama Department of Corrections to dismiss the case. The court rejected claims that the prison leases violate a state law that prohibits the leasing of the facilities without consent of the legislature. Plaintiffs in the case are Zeigler, state Rep. John Rogers of Birmingham, Kenny Glasgow, a pastor and prisoner rights advocate from Houston County, and Leslie Ogburn, whose property adjoins the site of a proposed prison near Tallassee in Elmore County. Defendants were Governor Ivey, Prison Commissioner Jeff Dunn, and two real estate entities formed and owned by CoreCivic. CoreCivic has until June 1 to obtain financing for construction of the two proposed prisons in central and south Alabama.
