Inmate testimony begins class action trial

An inmate testified on Monday about the lack of mental health treatment he has received in his six years of incarceration, signaling the first day of trial for a class action lawsuit brought on behalf of all Alabama inmates.

Jamie Wallace, a 24-year-old housed at Donaldson Correctional Facility who suffers from bipolar disorder, ADHD, mild retardation and schizophrenia, testified that he was not asked about his mental health status when he first entered prison.

He said he was taken off his Wellbutrin prescription, which helped him not hear voices in his head, and placed on a different medication for a 30-day trial turn.

“(Physicians at Donaldson) told me they couldn’t afford Wellbutrin,” Wallace said.

The new medications caused his temperament to decline. He testified that he cut his wrists and neck multiple times and tried to hang himself, and that an officer enabled him to do so by providing him a razor.

“(Officer Hill) said, ‘You want to kill yourself? Here, do it with this,’” he said.

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Mitesh Shah, an attorney representing the defendants, began laying the groundwork to impeach Wallace as a credible witness.

"You testified that you haven’t seen a psychiatrist in six months. That’s not true, is it? You have met with psychiatrists and counselors many many times, haven't you?" Shah asked.

Wallace answered that he was only seen by mental health professionals after he had been put in a crisis cell.

"Until I come to that crisis cell (mental health professionals) ain't coming to see me worth a damn, sir," Wallace said.

Shah did not get to complete his cross-examination. U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson had Wallace removed from the witness stand so Wallace could "calm down."

The litigation began in 2014, when the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Alabama Disabilities Advocacy Program filed a 180-page complaint against ADOC, then-ADOC Commissioner Kim Thomas (current Commissioner Jefferson Dunn has since inherited the suit) and Ruth Naglich, ADOC associate commissioner of health services.

The case has been split into two phases: one regarding physical health claims and one regarding mental health claims.

In March, the parties reached an agreement on the non-mental health claims. The part of the trial that began Monday focuses solely on ADOC’s mentally ill inmates, which the plaintiffs’ attorneys allege have been egregiously neglected.

The defendants have denied the allegations, stating in a court filing that the plaintiffs’ complaint “reveals inflammatory, self-serving statements that inaccurately characterize inmates’ medical and mental health conditions ... and demonstrate a basic misunderstanding of technical medical or mental health terminology.”

ADOC also stated through court filings that its cooperation with the settlement should not be construed as an admission of any legal violation.

“To the contrary, ADOC denies every material allegation of the complaint,” read part of the settlement.

The complaint, which refers to ADOC statistics, says nearly 40 percent of inmates has some form of mental illness. That’s nearly double what Alabama’s general population experiences.

Wanda Laird, executive director of the National Alliance on Mental Health Alabama, estimates one in five people in the state has suffered from a mental illness during their lifetime.