Criminal Justice Reform

Legislature

Alabama House passes several criminal justice-related bills

The bills address community corrections, judicial discretion in sentencing and the cost of housing state inmates in county jails.

February 24, 2021

Two bills would expand community corrections, enhance specialized courts

St. Clair County's drug and veterans courts have a combined 96 percent success rate at preventing recidivism.

February 23, 2021

Letter to lawmakers: Repeal Alabama’s Habitual Felony Offender Act

165 former judges and prosecutors, professors and public defenders signed on in support of Rep. Chris England's bill to repeal HFOA.

February 22, 2021

House passes bill to give some prisoners an opportunity for resentencing

The cases would go back to the trial judge, not the Pardons and Paroles Board.

February 10, 2021

Criminal justice reform bills pass out of House Judiciary Committee

The bills would continue a trend of more progressive reforms that are slowly rolling back mandatory minimum sentencing laws.

February 4, 2021

Habitual offender law repeal parked in a subcommittee

The Habitual Felony Offender Act was aimed at stopping crime by giving a life sentence to anyone with three serious felonies.

February 4, 2021

Ivey announces support for criminal justice legislation

Gov. Kay Ivey on Thursday announced her support for six bills that address the state’s criminal justice system, legislation that’s a product of Ivey’s study group on criminal justice policy. “I tasked the Criminal Justice Study Group with the mission of finding data-driven solutions to our longstanding challenges in our prison system,” Ivey said in … Continued

February 28, 2020

“He was a human being”: Family hopes son’s death at Holman prison not in vain

After a decade behind bars, all that came out of Holman prison was Antonio Bell’s body and a pair of new white Nikes, still wrapped in plastic. Before he died on Jan. 9 of a likely drug overdose, 29-year-old Antonio told his family that it’s the guards who most often smuggle drugs inside. The family … Continued

February 25, 2020

Private prison company eyes Elmore County land for one of state’s new prisons

Editor’s note: The story was updated Feb. 12, 2020, to reflect that the private company Corvias has also pulled out of the procurement process. The private prison company CoreCivic for more than two years has been eying land just outside the city of Tallassee in Elmore county to build one of Alabama’s planned three new … Continued

February 11, 2020

Alabama pastors, faith leaders call on state to enact meaningful criminal justice reform

A group of Alabama pastors urged state lawmakers in a letter Wednesday to work on meaningful criminal justice reform to fix Alabama’s broken prison system and to help prevent young people from entering it. Joining the 40 pastors who signed the letter was Craig DeRoche, senior vice president of advocacy and public policy with Prison … Continued

February 6, 2020