Prisons Alabama

A group of Cuban inmates fighting deportation to their homeland took over part of a federal prison Wednesday and were holding 11 hostages, authorities said. One worker at the Talladega Federal Correctional Institution was injured slightly in the takeover, officials said. Prison officials described the area seized by the inmates as a housing unit known as "Alpha Unit."

A year after becoming the first state to bring back chain gangs, Alabama has yielded to pressure and permanently banned the practice. "They realized that chaining them together was inefficient, that it was unsafe," said attorney Richard Cohen of the Southern Poverty Law Center, whose lawsuit challenged chain gangs as cruel punishment.

A truck carrying cement blocks rolled into a federal prison Saturday along with additional police cars, trucks and vans as a takeover by hostage-taking Cuban inmates entered its fourth day. Warden Roger F. Scott of Talladega Federal Correctional Institution characterized conditions inside as calm, but dozens of cars, trucks, vans and a flatbed truck carrying the cement blocks rolled into the prison during the night. Two helicopters also landed.

Alabama's prison system is preparing to snap shackles around the ankles of female prisoners, creating female chain gangs in the state that revived male leg-iron crews last year. Prison officials said the female chain gangs would help resolve lawsuits from male inmates challenging the exclusively male work units. Stephen Dees, the warden at Julia Tutwiler State Prison for Women near Montgomery, Ala., is developing the chain-gang policy. Women could be working in leg irons as early as June.

Alabama's prison system is preparing to snap shackles around the ankles of female prisoners, creating female chain gangs in the state that revived male leg-iron crews last year. Prison officials said the female chain gangs would help resolve lawsuits from male inmates challenging the exclusively male work units. Stephen Dees, the warden at Julia Tutwiler State Prison for Women near Montgomery, Ala., is developing the chain-gang policy. Women could be working in leg irons as early as June.

Prison officials reported some progress Friday in talks with Cuban inmates, two days after the prisoners grabbed a high-security unit and took 10 hostages on the eve of being deported to their homeland. Prescription medication was delivered Thursday night for two hostages and two prisoners through a grille that covers an entry in the high-security unit at Talladega Federal Correctional Institution. Warden Roger Scott said the medication was for "non-life-threatening" conditions.

A year after becoming the first state to bring back chain gangs, Alabama has yielded to pressure and permanently banned the practice. "They realized that chaining them together was inefficient, that it was unsafe," said attorney Richard Cohen of the Southern Poverty Law Center, whose lawsuit challenged chain gangs as cruel punishment.

A truck carrying cement blocks rolled into a federal prison Saturday along with additional police cars, trucks and vans as a takeover by hostage-taking Cuban inmates entered its fourth day. Warden Roger F. Scott of Talladega Federal Correctional Institution characterized conditions inside as calm, but dozens of cars, trucks, vans and a flatbed truck carrying the cement blocks rolled into the prison during the night. Two helicopters also landed.

Prison officials reported some progress Friday in talks with Cuban inmates, two days after the prisoners grabbed a high-security unit and took 10 hostages on the eve of being deported to their homeland. Prescription medication was delivered Thursday night for two hostages and two prisoners through a grille that covers an entry in the high-security unit at Talladega Federal Correctional Institution. Warden Roger Scott said the medication was for "non-life-threatening" conditions.

A group of Cuban inmates fighting deportation to their homeland took over part of a federal prison Wednesday and were holding 11 hostages, authorities said. One worker at the Talladega Federal Correctional Institution was injured slightly in the takeover, officials said. Prison officials described the area seized by the inmates as a housing unit known as "Alpha Unit."