MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — An advocacy group charged Friday that Alabama officials have failed to address a rising suicide rate in state prisons despite a federal court order to improve conditions for mentally ill inmates.

Attorneys representing inmates in an ongoing lawsuit over mental health care argued state officials have done "precious little" to address inmate suicides.

"People are killing themselves in our prisons because conditions are horrendous," Southern Poverty Law Center President Richard Cohen said at a news conference outside the Alabama Statehouse.

The organization said there have...