Alabamians gathered Tuesday outside St. Clair Correctional Facility to demand the immediate termination of Lieutenant Roderick Gadson—a senior corrections officer exposed as a killer in the HBO documentary “The Alabama Solution.” They also demanded accountability for all other officers who have committed abuse inside Alabama prisons.
During the demonstration, which took place along the public roadway near the facility entrance, affected families and community members called attention to a pattern of unchecked violence, corruption and wasteful spending of taxpayer funds to defend violent officers.
“My son was beaten to death while in state care, and the man responsible wasn’t just kept on the job, he was promoted twice,” said Sandy Ray, mother of Steven Davis, an inmate killed by Gadson. “There has been no accountability, no acknowledgment, and no justice. Families like mine are left to carry that loss while the state of Alabama protects the people who caused it in the first place.”
Called ‘one of the most violent prison guards in America,’ Gadson has been named in dozens of excessive force lawsuits over more than a decade, including cases involving severe injury and death. Public reporting and court records show a sustained pattern of allegations, with multiple settlements paid out by the state and no meaningful disciplinary action taken. Organizers pointed to both the human and financial toll: more than $436,000 in settlements and nearly $500,000 in legal defense costs tied to excessive force claims involving Gadson alone, alongside more than $57 million in taxpayer dollars spent since 2020 defending Alabama’s prison system and its violent officers.
The protest, led by NO MORE: The Campaign for Safety and Accountability in Alabama’s Prisons, is part of a broader push for accountability within ADOC, which the U.S. Department of Justice found to be operating under unconstitutional conditions. The campaign is calling for:
- Immediate termination of Lieutenant Roderick Gadson and all officers who abuse their power;
- Independent accountability mechanisms for correctional staff;
- Across-the-board, mandated transparency around use-of-force incidents across Alabama prisons.
“The Alabama Department of Corrections knows people are being murdered and still chooses not to act,” said Cindy Hamilton, an Alabama mother who is a member of The Mama Bears, a local advocacy group committed to protecting their incarcerated children and reforming the system. “You cannot call this current system ‘oversight’ at all when abusive officers are protected, promoted, and taxpayers are left having to pay for the consequences.”
“This is a system where even well-documented murders are being denied, then covered up by the authorities and paid for via confidential settlements,” said Morgan Duckett, manager of the NO MORE campaign. “Gov. Ivey, Steve Marshall, and every elected and appointed leader turning a blind eye are making a clear and continued choice to protect killer officers with long records of abuse instead of the Alabamians in their custody. I hope today’s action makes it clear the public is not going to tolerate this any more.”
