Author

Eddie Burkhalter

Eddie Burkhalter is a reporter at the Alabama Political Reporter. You can email him at [email protected] or reach him via Twitter.

APR’s top five stories of 2019

The year was busy for journalists across the state, and it was no different at APR, where reporters dug into the biggest stories of 2019 to give readers a glimpse at what was happening behind closed doors. From a broken prison system to an unpopular toll bridge project that ran out of pavement, here’s a … Continued

Eddie Burkhalter

December 30, 2019

State releases some prison staffing figures, argues for use of lesser-trained correctional officers

The Alabama Department of Corrections in a recent court filing Friday argues that a new form of correctional officer being hired to staff Alabama’s understaffed, deadly prisons are up to the task. The Southern Poverty Law Center – the plaintiff in the lawsuit – and the federal judge overseeing the case, have both expressed concern … Continued

Eddie Burkhalter

December 27, 2019

Prison reform group asks for observers on prison commissioner’s task force on violence

A group advocating for prison reform in Alabama on Friday asked that external observers be placed on a newly formed task force meant to address inmate-on-inmate violence and alleged excessive use of force by correctional officers. The request comes after a particularly deadly month, and year, in Alabama prisons. Alabamians for Fair Justice, a coalition … Continued

Eddie Burkhalter

December 24, 2019

Two Alabama prison inmates die on same day, bringing yearly total to at least 27

Two inmates in Alabama prisons died on the same day, Dec. 10, APR was able to confirm with the Alabama Department of Corrections on Thursday. Those deaths bring the total number of Alabama prisoners who died in 2019 as a result of murder, drug overdoses or suicides to at least 27. Brandon Ladd, 31, was … Continued

Eddie Burkhalter

December 20, 2019

Chip Brown to reintroduce bill allowing judges to hold those charged with violent crimes without bail

Alabama Rep. Chip Brown, R-Mobile, on Thursday announced plans to once again file a constitutional amendment that would allow judges to hold more people charged with violent crimes in jail without bail. Brown’s filed similar legislation last year, but after passing in the state House in a 92-3 vote it failed to clear the Alabama … Continued

Eddie Burkhalter

December 20, 2019

Company vying to build Alabama’s prisons seeks foreign funding as most U.S. firms cut ties

One of the two private prison companies vying to build Alabama’s new prisons is looking to a Japanese Bank for financing after many U.S. banks have cut ties with businesses that detain immigrants and run for-profit prisons. Tennessee-based CoreCivic, one of four companies that Gov. Kay Ivey’s office in November announced will move forward in … Continued

Eddie Burkhalter

December 19, 2019

Family of Alabama death row inmate hopes for new trial

Recent news coverage in major outlets of the story of Alabama death row inmate Toforest Johnson’s case is giving his family hope that he’ll get a new trial and a chance at freedom. The family awaits a judge’s ruling on whether he could get that new trial. “It’s especially difficult around the holidays,” said Johnson’s … Continued

Eddie Burkhalter

December 18, 2019

New interactive map details unpaid debt in U.S.

Alabamians, mush like residents in many other Southern states, have more unpaid, uncollected debt than those living in other U.S. states, according to new updates to an interactive map. The updated interactive map by the Urban Institute, a Washington D.C.-based economic and policy think tank, shows how many Alabamians have unpaid debts, and breaks those … Continued

Eddie Burkhalter

December 18, 2019

Limestone judge indicted on theft, abuse of office charges

The Alabama Attorney General’s office on Thursday announced the indictment of Limestone County Circuit Judge Douglas Lee Patterson on three felony charges that he used his office for personal gain. Patterson, 37, was arrested Thursday morning by agents with Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall’s office following indictments by a Limestone County special grand jury, according … Continued

Eddie Burkhalter

December 13, 2019

Federal judge concerned over prison staffing, undertrained fill-ins

A federal judge last week pressed attorneys representing the Alabama Department of Corrections about staffing problems that the plaintiff’s attorneys argued may run afoul of a court order to increase correctional officers in the state’s overcrowded, understaffed prisons. U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson in the Dec. 6 hearing, first reported by Alabama Daily News, asked … Continued

Eddie Burkhalter

December 12, 2019