20-05-2025
In wake of excessive force allegations, some corrections officers got promoted
Despite a prison population with 4,000 fewer incarcerated people than a decade ago, uses of force inside Alabama prisons have increased 47% during that time, according to ADOC's own internal data. (Alex Cochran for Alabama Reflector)
The account of what happened during a 2018 incident between an incarcerated man and three Alabama Department of Corrections (ADOC) officers at Donaldson Correctional Facility differs according to the parties involved.
But the results are inarguable.
The prisoner was rushed to UAB hospital with multiple injuries, including broken ribs, broken vertebrae and a collapsed lung, according to findings by a U.S. magistrate judge.
May 19: The Alabama Department of Corrections has settled over 90 lawsuits alleging corrections officers used excessive force, costing the state millions of dollars.
May 20: Even as the prison population has declined, use of force incidents in Alabama's prisons and some corrections officers named in lawsuits alleging excessive force involved have not only held onto jobs, but been promoted.
May 21: The anatomy of one inmate's allegations against a corrections officer, and the aftermath.
May 22: Who's paying for these settlements? You are. Who's getting the most money from this litigation? Attorneys defending corrections officers.
The injured man spent three nights in the hospital. In 2020, he sued the three officers for excessive force. The officers didn't deny that they'd used force, but denied that it was excessive.
ADOC's internal use of force report about the incident noted that the prisoner weighed 145 pounds, and one of the officers involved — the one who kneeled on the prisoner's back — weighed about 300 pounds.
The officers said that the prisoner had refused an order to enter a cell. One officer then sprayed him with a chemical agent called 'Sabre Red.' They said the prisoner then refused to lie down. So another officer 'took him to the floor,' and the prisoner 'continued to resist and engage in combative behavior.' This version of the story was used to justify the 300-pound officer 'forcefully' kneeling on the man's back, sending him to the hospital.
The ADOC supervisor who investigated the incident concluded that the use of force was necessary.
'Officers used a minimum amount of force to gain control of the situation,' he wrote in his report.
In 2021, U.S. Magistrate Judge Herman N. Johnson determined the evidence could support a finding of excessive force, and wrote the officers' statements 'cannot be reconciled with plaintiff's verified claim that he was already handcuffed and that offers beat him, as assessed in combination with the extent of his injuries.'
Lawyers from the Alabama's Attorney General's Office representing the three officers negotiated a settlement of the case for $40,000, one of 94 settlements paid in excessive force claims against ADOC officers since 2020.
ADOC would not comment on specific lawsuits against officers. The Alabama Attorney General's Office, which handles litigation involving ADOC, did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
The consistent details inside the recent surge in complaints against ADOC officers mirror the DOJ's conclusion in 2020 that the state's seeming indifference in addressing and preventing uses of force in its prisons 'fosters a culture where unlawful uses of force are common.'
And despite a prison population with 4,000 fewer incarcerated people than a decade ago, uses of force inside the prisons have increased 47% during that time, according to ADOC's own internal data.
The highest number of incidents, 2,659 across the entire system, was reported in 2020. Beginning in March 2020, ADOC facilities were locked down because of COVID, with limited movement, and no outside visits or educational programs.
ADOC does not report use of force statistics publicly, but the Reflector obtained the data through an open records request. Three maximum-security prisons reported more than 300 use of force incidents, an all-time high, in 2020. Donaldson Correctional Facility in Bessemer reported 348. Limestone Correctional Facility in Harvest reported 308, and Tutwiler Prison for Women in Wetumpka 329.
'So much of this violence by officers is senseless and unnecessary,' said former ADOC Warden David Wise, who retired from the agency in 2010 after working in the prisons for 28 years. 'There's not a convict in that system that if he refuses an order, that I can't put in a cell without hurting him.'
ADOC policy around use of force is governed by an administrative regulation that the agency will not release publicly, but the Reflector obtained a copy.
Correctional officers are allowed to use physical force against men and women in Alabama prisons as a means of control. Force can include the use of batons, chemical sprays or electronic devices like tasers, or physical control defined as 'the use of empty-hand techniques to gain control and compliance of resistance and/or combative subject.' The DOJ defines empty-hand techniques as 'takedowns' unlikely to cause injury, and can include strikes or kicks.
But DOJ drew a distinction between legal uses of force that may be justified in a prison setting and ADOC's large number of incidents it deemed unjustified under the legal standard.
In findings sent to Alabama leaders in July 2020, the DOJ said that excessive force was 'used frequently' in 12 of the state's 13 major correctional facilities for men. The report cited 17 specific incidents, as well as two that ended in deaths.
The state has argued the DOJ's lawsuit was based on 'vague and conclusory allegations' and denied the findings.
'An excessive force claim requires allegations plausibly suggesting that officials applied force 'maliciously and sadistically for the very purpose of causing harm,'' wrote William Lunsford, the lead attorney representing the state in a motion asking the court to dismiss the lawsuit. 'Plaintiff's barebones allegations fall far short of this standard.'
Former ADOC Warden Wise said officers are trained to use the minimum force necessary, and could de-escalate almost every situation by just using their voice.
'Ninety percent of the time, that's how I got out of coming to blows with inmates. I talked to them, reasoned with them,' he explained. 'I also let them know real quick that there was no way they were going to win. Usually, if you let him think about that for a minute, he'll do what's right. Every once in a while you come across an inmate acting like Hercules, but that's very rare.'
According to ADOC's use of force policy, officers are allowed to use physical force if a prisoner is aggressive, for self-defense, the protection of others and property, to prevent escape, quell a disturbance or 'when an inmate exercises physical resistance to a lawful command.'
Wise said that last justification, when an incarcerated person disobeys a lawful command, is where some officers push the bounds of what's legal and necessary.
'Some of them take that to say, 'OK, well you disobeyed my command. I can whoop your ass.' That's not the way it's supposed to go,' he said. 'If they use proper strategy and do what they're taught in the academy, there should be very few incidents and lawsuits.'
The largest excessive force settlement paid since 2020 was in a lawsuit filed by the mother of Steven Davis, whose son was beaten to death by a group of officers, including Roderick Gadson, who was promoted to lieutenant after Davis' death.
An internal investigation determined the officers' use of force was justified because they said Davis brandished two prison-made weapons and did not comply with their demands to drop the weapons. Some witnesses disputed this account, saying that officers continued to beat Davis after he dropped the weapons.
The Alabama Attorney General's Office declined to press criminal charges against the officers and the state never admitted wrongdoing. But attorneys for the officers agreed to a $250,000 settlement in August 2024.
Another case with Gadson at the center involved a beating incident in the same cell block of Donaldson prison in which Davis was killed, three months before his death. The victim, who survived, was taken to UAB hospital via ambulance with multiple injuries, including a broken leg and nose, and fractures in his hand that required surgery. Lawyers representing ADOC agreed to settle that case for $10,000.
A review of liability trust fund data and court records identified 10 officers at the center of excessive force lawsuits that settled after 2020 who are still working for the agency, according to payment records available in the Open Alabama checkbook database maintained by the Department of Finance. ADOC confirmed employment of the 10 officers as of March 6, 2025.
Gadson is one of five officers identified in this review who was promoted after being named in an excessive force lawsuit leading to a large settlement.
Messages seeking comment on Gadson were sent to the Alabama Attorney General's Office and Steven Herndon, an attorney who represented Gadson in the Steven Davis civil suit.
Attempts to reach Gadson directly were unsuccessful.
David Gespass, an attorney who has represented incarcerated people in litigation against ADOC, views the agency's excessive force problem as one in which 'repeater beater' officers are not held accountable, even when these officers are sued repeatedly for harming prisoners.
'They get defended,' Gespass said. 'They don't have to pay for defense. They don't have to pay if there's liability found, so the problem is that ADOC just doesn't do anything about these guys.'
They get defended. They don't have to pay for defense. They don't have to pay if there's liability found, so the problem is that ADOC just doesn't do anything about these guys.
– David Gespass, attorney
In response to the question of what actions ADOC takes when multiple excessive force lawsuits are filed against an officer, ADOC's spokesperson Kelly Betts wrote that the agency keeps a close eye on litigation, and that 'trends are monitored and discussed with the appropriate stakeholders.'
She said ADOC investigates all uses of force and if there is a question about whether the force was justified, the case is presented to a 'use of force review board,' which ADOC established in 2024.
Betts wouldn't name review board members, but said the board includes all ranks of security staff and meets 'as necessary.' Consequences of the reviews follow 'State Personnel's progressive discipline guidelines' and Betts wrote that cases constituting criminal acts are handled by ADOC's Law Enforcement Services Division and referred to the local district attorney for prosecution.
But Betts could not say how many referrals ADOC has made to prosecutors in excessive force cases. 'ADOC does not currently track that data,' she wrote in response to a request for the number of cases sent to the local district attorney since 2020.
The 1996 federal Prison Litigation Reform Act or PLRA sought to curtail unnecessary or frivolous prison lawsuits by severely restricting the ability for prisoners to file any claim. It made it much more challenging for incarcerated people to succeed in court, and resulted in a sharp decline in lawsuits filed over prison conditions.
Still, prisons are litigious environments. Incarcerated people across the nation file civil rights complaints against officers and prison staff, but 80% of such cases filed in 2021 resulted in a pre-trial decision in favor of the defendants, according to data compiled by University of Michigan Law Professor Margo Schlanger for
A lawsuit will typically only reach settlement after passing complicated procedural requirements, and then passing a court's scrutiny to not dismiss the case for lacking a plausible claim.
Several attorneys who have represented incarcerated Alabamaians said in the last few years, courts are dismissing fewer excessive force complaints at the preliminary stages because of the extent of the injuries, and because of video evidence from prison surveillance cameras.
Betts said settling a case is not an admission of wrongdoing.
'Cases may settle for a multitude of reasons, the most common one being the cost of continued litigation and/or trial,' Betts wrote in an email response to questions about the record number of excessive force settlements. 'Often, a settlement is reached to save taxpayer money. It's usually cheaper to settle than it is to take a case all the way to trial.'
But former ADOC Warden Wise said the record number of excessive force cases resulting in paid settlements should be a red flag to leaders in Montgomery.
'You should have enough confidence to be able to, even when there is a lawsuit, defend it, not settle it,' Wise said. 'And the system needs that money, not for lawsuits, it needs that money to make it better.'
This reporting was made possible by support from the Fund for Investigative Journalism.
When state employees are sued as individuals, Alabama's General Liability Trust Fund is used to pay for their legal defense and any monetary settlement for the plaintiff. This use of the fund was the subject of our reporting, and records helped us identify 124 lawsuits against Alabama Department of Corrections employees that resulted in settlements between 2020 and 2024. Read more about our strategy.
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