Alabamians for Fair Justice Archives • Alabama Political Reporter

Groups call on House, Senate to take up repeal of Habitual Felony Offender Act

Rep. Chris England's bill would repeal the law and allow incarcerated people serving under it a chance to have sentences revisited.

April 8, 2021

Families, advocates ask Alabama to release at-risk inmates amid COVID-19 outbreak

When Amber Faircloth learned Thursday of the first confirmed case of COVID-19 in an Alabama prison, she worried that her husband, who has cancer, could be in jeopardy. Her husband, who’s serving time at Limestone prison, is one of more than 1,000 inmates most at risk of serious complications or death if the virus spreads … Continued

March 21, 2020

Alabamians for Fair Justice urges lawmakers to repeal habitual offender law

Tuesday in Montgomery, over a hundred advocates for criminal justice reform will urge Alabama lawmakers to adopt reforms to help alleviate Alabama’s prison crisis. Alabamians from across the state will push for major changes that would help make prison sentences proportionate to the crimes committed, prevent people convicted of minor offenses from going to prison, … Continued

February 19, 2020

Holman prison inmate killed in December, at least 14th prison homicide in 2019.

A Montgomery man serving in Holman prison in December became the last person to be killed inside Alabama prisons after being assaulted by another inmate the day before, the Alabama Department of Corrections said in a statement Tuesday. APR confirmed that Moses Robinson, 38, died on Dec. 31 from injuries he received at the prison … Continued

January 8, 2020

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

December 24, 2019

Two officers on leave after Alabama inmate death

Too little, too late, advocates for criminal justice reform say to promises for reform by the Alabama Department of Corrections following a second inmate death at the hands of correctional officers in three months. The Alabama Department of Corrections (ADOC) released a statement on Tuesday announcing that 55-year-old inmate Michael Smith of Fairfield was pronounced … Continued

December 11, 2019

Twenty Alabama prisoners killed this year

Thursday, Alabamians for Fair Justice released a statement critical of Alabama Department of Corrections Commissioner Jeff Dunn’s tenure in charge of the state’s prisons. “Under Commissioner Dunn’s leadership, Alabama’s prison system is in a constitutional crisis,” the activist group claimed. “There have been at least 20 verified deaths due to homicide, suicide or overdose in … Continued

November 15, 2019

Sentencing reform needed, advocates say, but state official says it won’t come easy or cheap

Montgomery– Alabama’s prisons are overcrowded, violent and the living conditions horrid, but the fixes aren’t going to come easy, according to the director of the state’s Sentencing Commission, speaking to the Governor’s Study Group on Criminal Justice Policy on Thursday. Alabama’s prison system is under threat of federal takeover if the state doesn’t remedy the … Continued

October 4, 2019

Alabama prison population is on the rise again

By Alabamians for Fair Justice Articles like this and this cite data that seems to indicate Alabama prisons are on the right track. It’s true, the state decreased the prison populations through 2017, the result of a concerted, bipartisan effort that resulted in the 2015 Justice Reinvestment Act. While we are glad to see media … Continued

October 2, 2019