MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) -- Corrections Commissioner Richard Allen asked the Alabama Supreme Court for an emergency order Tuesday blocking a lower court's threat to lock him up unless the state prison system eliminates a backlog of inmates in county jails.

A motion filed by Allen contends the order issued by Circuit Judge William Shashy on May 11 is "absolutely unprecedented in the law of Alabama" by calling for the jailing of a Cabinet member without legal jurisdiction.

With the prison system funded by the Legislature, the commissioner contends the core issues in the long-running case are political and not subject to a court order.

Shashy's order also creates a "substantial risk" to the public by forcing prison officials to move potentially dangerous inmates into low-security prisons, the motion says.

Shashy has set a May 26 hearing on a stay motion filed with his court. But the request filed Tuesday with the high court notes that Shashy gave Allen until May 31 to reduce a backlog of 585 inmates to 400. The motion says that holding a hearing just before a three-day holiday weekend would give Allen only one working day to appeal, if a ruling on the stay is issued at the hearing, which it may not be.

"Simply put, the Commissioner should not be required to already be in shackles before seeking relief in this court," the motion says.

Shashy's order May 11 said jail time for the commissioner had to be imposed as a possible penalty because the state Supreme Court struck down Shashy's earlier order imposing fines. The judge said the backlog of state inmates in county jails longer than 30 days - the maximum time limit under an earlier court decree - has continued despite repeated court efforts to end litigation dating back nearly 15 years.

"The Court cannot and will not turn a blind eye to violations of state law," Shashy wrote.

Even though Allen has been commissioner only since his February appointment by Gov. Bob Riley, Shashy said the corrections department cannot be allowed more time. Counties had sought the order, arguing that some of their jails were jam-packed.

Shashy said there were more than 1,500 empty beds in the state prisons system, which holds some 23,600 inmates, and the department wasn't doing its job to remove prisoners from county lockups. Prison officials have said the beds are mostly in work release or low-security sites and that most inmates filling them would be higher security risks.

The judge said the backlog must be reduced to 200 by June 27 and cleared entirely by Sept. 5. He also gave the counties additional authority to send inmates to the state system.

Allen's motion said the Shashy order was "the most threatening and heavy-handed order yet" in the lengthy case. He said it also contained "the absurd notion that the Department actually has untapped resources of funding, manpower, and space that the Commissioner has willfully refused to utilize."

Corrections officials have long complained that the Legislature has left it underfunded and without enough prison guards. Allen has said he wants to take a new approach, focusing on sentencing reforms, expanding work release and seeking long-term financing rather than asking lawmakers for a huge increase in a single budget year.

In his motion, Allen said a stay is needed to avoid putting a Cabinet member behind bars while "serious questions respecting the circuit court's jurisdiction and authority remain unresolved."

Back to News