Prison reform advocates are calling on Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s administration to order an independent review of the state Department of Corrections. The department recently reported its 15th death this year of a person in custody death.
William Hensley III, 34, died Oct. 2at Goose Creek Correctional Center in Wasilla after a month in custody.
With this death, Corrections matches the highest number of in-custody deaths the department has seen in the past decade. In 2015, 15 people died in Corrections custody.
“These are people and they’re dying at an alarming rate,” said Angela Hall, founder of Supporting Our Loved Ones Group, which provides peer support for families of incarcerated people. “We’re in the dark a lot of times about why these deaths are occurring.”
Hall is also a member of the American Civil Liberties Union of Alaska’s Prison Reform Action Network. Both Hall and the ACLU of Alaska want to see an independent review of the Department of Corrections, similar to the administrative review then-Gov. Bill Walker requested in 2015, which found numerous problems contributing to deaths within the state’s prisons and jails.
“You have to look at the system holistically because other conditions of confinement issues can lead to dangerous situations for incarcerated people and staff,” said Megan Edge, communications director for the ACLU of Alaska and director of the ACLU of Alaska’s Prison Project.
The ACLU of Alaska Prison Project, which launched last month, is developing a response plan.
“We are working with families whose loved ones have died in state prisons and jails and working to contact more. We are coordinating our efforts with other legal partners and community members. Together, we hope to find answers and develop meaningful solutions that put an end to the practices that have allowed 15 people, who were not sentenced to death, to die in the Alaska prison system,” Edge said.
Dunleavy spokesperson Jeff Turner did not respond Oct. 4 when asked if the governor’s office would consider conducting a review in response to the high number of in-custody deaths.
While some deaths of people in incarceration is expected, Hall said what’s been happening recently is different and concerning.
“It seems to be that a lot of these recent ones haven’t been there very long and so we don’t know what the cause is. It seems like there might be an issue with how people are being funneled into the jails and into the prisons, when they really probably need to be treated for health issues,” she said.
Of the 15 deaths to occur in Corrections custody so far this year, several individuals have been in their 20s or 30s and died after only a short time in state care. Two deaths in August occurred after less than 24 hours.
From the time someone is initially arrested to when they’re transferred to Corrections to being in Corrections care, Hall suspects there are issues that need to be addressed.
“We’re not just supposed to ignore the fact that these folks may have some mental health issues or medical issues that need addressing, and not just stick them in a jail cell or a prison cell and ignore the fact that they may be really ill,” she said.
Like several others to die in Corrections custody this year, Hensley was unsentenced. He had been in custody since Sept. 1, according to the department’s press release. About half the people in custody in Corrections facilities are unsentenced.
“This is really disturbing because these people haven’t even been convicted and tried or sentenced for a crime, and here they are dying in custody,” Hall said.
The Alaska State Troopers investigate every in-custody death and the State Medical Examiner’s Office determines the cause. Citing confidentiality, Corrections does not release medical information.
In addition to the troopers, Corrections conducts its own confidential internal investigation “to determine the cause and circumstances surrounding the death as well as any related deficiencies in policies, procedures or practices,” according to its death of prisoner policy and procedure.
Corrections remands close to 30,000 individuals each year, Betsy Holley, Alaska Department of Corrections public information officer, said in an email. “Many of whom enter our facilities with preexisting, and in some cases, very complicated medical, mental health and substance use related issues.”
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