Prisons reduce food, visits for striking inmates

Thousands of inmates in Alabama’s overcrowded prison system are receiving only two meals a day during a prisoner work stoppage that was in its fourth day yesterday, and the agency said weekend visitation also was being cancelled. While inmates and activists have accused the Department of Corrections of using pressure tactics in an attempt to end the demonstration, officials said the reduced rations and the lack of visits were the result of a prisoner labour shortage. Inmates provide much of the labor force inside prisons, the department said, so the lockups eliminated one of the three meals that normally are served to compensate for the lack of workers.