Alabama prison shuts off water to cells, hunger strike ends

ATMORE, Ala. — The Alabama Department of Corrections says a hunger strike by inmates protesting solitary confinement at the William C. Holman Correctional Facility has ended after authorities shut off the water to their prison cells.

Corrections spokesman Bob Horton told the Montgomery Advertiser on Thursday that the water was shut off so that Holman medical staff could monitor the inmates’ water intake. He said the strike ended late Thursday.

The eight prison inmates began refusing food on Monday, saying they were unjustly placed in solitary confinement.

The inmates were transferred to the prison in February for security reasons after a contraband raid.

Horton agreed that the striking inmates didn’t violate any rules or regulations, but said they were put there while authorities figured where to put them among the general population at another facility.