Tuscaloosa lawmaker sponsors bill to protect prison inmates after death
By Lisa Crane
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MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WVTM) — A law with no consequences if it’s broken. That’s what some Alabama legislators say they’re trying to remedy with a bill moving through the state house.
We first told you about allegations concerning the illegal harvesting of deceased inmates’ organs two years ago when the first lawsuit was filed. On Thursday, several family members met with lawmakers.
Brandon Dotson and Kelvin Moore died behind bars in Alabama prisons. When their bodies were released to their families, they were missing organs.
“We’ve just been destroyed ever since then because we feel like he was mutilated,” said Kelvin’s sister, Simone Moore.
Alabama lawmakers said there is a law already on the books that makes it illegal for a medical examiner to keep a deceased person’s organs without notification to and consent from the next of kin. But it’s a law with no teeth.
Moore added, “It’s nothing short of thievery, but there are no consequences. It’s against the law. It is illegal, but they have no consequences.”
State Rep. Chris England has sponsored a bill to change that. House Bill 71 would make what happened to Dotson and Moore a felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a $15,000 fine. He said the goal of the bill is to keep this from happening again and to bring transparency to the process and the Department of Corrections, which is already under investigation by the Department of Justice for civil rights violations.
England said, “It’s just another example of Alabama’s failure in our criminal justice system and our Department of Corrections. And I do think you get to a point where it can’t get worse. And then you find out that families are being put through further trauma because organs are being taken from their loved ones after they pass away.”
England said HB71 is out of committee. He expects the bill to pass with bipartisan support.
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