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.
Criminal Justice Reform
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
“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
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
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