“STOP THE VIOLENCE, WARDEN DAVENPORT MUST GO”

“STOP THE VIOLENCE, WARDEN DAVENPORT MUST GO “

In 2010, ADOC Commissioner Kim Thomas appointed Warden Carter Davenport as the Warden of St. Clair CF in Springville, Al. At the time Warden Davenport arrived, St. Clair was the least violent maximum security prison in the State of Alabama with only 23 incidents of violence for a prison population of appx. 1,300 men.

• Just three (3) shorts years after his arrival to St. Clair in 2010, the violence level would quadrupled to 101 violent incidents in 2013, including two murders.

  By 2014, six people have been killed, including 4 murders in 2014 alone. St. Clair prison would witness historic levels of violence that would ultimately make St. Clair prison one of the worst in the Nation.

  Warden Davenport has created a toxic and hopeless environment where violence rules and where there is no accountability, no respect for Adm. Regs and S.O.P.’s, and no resources allocated to Education and Rehabilitation.

  Warden Davenport has overseen an administration that has repeatedly violated the Civil and Human Rights of the men incarcerated under his authority at St. Clair. In fact, Warden Davenport himself has been suspended for beating a man in handcuffs at St. Clair in 2012.

  The Equal Justice Initiative and the Southern Povery Law Center have filed class action lawsuits against Warden Davenport and ADOC for the violent culture and abuse that Davenport has overseen. One man, Joseph Shack was awarded over $70,000 in 2014 when he was beaten while handcuffed by Sgt. Mason- Sgt. Mason remains employed. EJI, The Montgomery Advertisor, and several others have called for Warden Davenport’s removal.

  As Under Davenport’s watch, six (6) people have been killed at St. Clair prison: Jamie Bell, John Rutledge, Marquette Cummings, Tim Duncan, Jodie Waldrop and Jabari Bascomb.

  2015 began with a wave of violence that has taken St. Clair by storm. As of January 23rd, over 20 people have been stabbed, officers have beaten several people, the Riot Team was called in, the prison went on lockdown, and several men are still hospitalized.

  Prior to Warden Davenport’s arrival at St. Clair prison, the men incarcerated, in conjunction with the previous Wardens David Wise and Warden DeAngelo Burrell, had founded a program called Convicts Against Violence. This program was largely responsible for bringing down the violence level at St. Clair to the historic lows that were in place when Davenport arrived. Yet, since his arrival at St. Clair, Warden Davenport stopped the Convicts Against Violence program, and to this day, C.A.V. remains the only program that has been stopped.

  Warden Davenport also ended C.A.V.’s conflict resolution and mediation classes, and the Educational and Mentoring program which had enrolled and actively engaged over 400 Students from L-M and P-Q dorms where predominately black men were/are now “warehoused” with no oulets for their frustration.

  This abuse of power and state-engineered violence, which can be tracked back directly to the hiring of Warden Carter Davenport must be stopped. Some guards at St Clair are undisciplined and abusive under the leadership of Warden Davenport. This is not the way citizens of the State of Alabama intend for their tax dollars to be spent. Take control of your tax money and sign this Petition to have Warden Carter Davenport removed from our payroll.