Criminal Justice Reform

A 26-year-old Huntsville man was pronounced dead at the Bibb Correctional Facility on Nov. 11, according to the Alabama Department of Corrections.  Correctional officers found inmate Dewayne Foxx at around 9:30 a.m. on Nov. 11 lying on his side in his bed with no visible injuries, but he appeared to have vomited on himself, according … Continued

Kamille McKinney. Aniah Blanchard. Sloan Harmon. Over the last six weeks, the people of Alabama have been confronted with a frightening reality that very few of our politicians have been willing to acknowledge: our state has a violent crime problem. Don’t believe me? Violent crime in Alabama is up 20 percent over the last ten … Continued

So far this year, 13 Alabama inmates have been murdered, which was twice as many as were killed during the entire ten-year period between 1999 and 2009, making the state’s prisons the most dangerous in the nation, according to an Alabama nonprofit.  The Montgomery-based Equal Justice Initiative, which provides legal services for inmates, released the … Continued

Alabama Department of Corrections Commissioner Jeff Dunn received a “National Outstanding Service” award, the department announced Thursday, the same day a nationally-syndicated radio program broadcast live from Birmingham about the state’s broken prison system.  Dunn has been selected for the 2019 Michael Francke Career Achievement Award by the Correctional Leaders Association (CLA). Kevin Kemph, executive … Continued

Dena Dickerson is worried that Alabama officials won’t make the hard decisions needed to fix the state’s broken prison system, and that the people who can help inform those decisions aren’t being listened to.  People like herself.  In 2002 at the age of 23 Dickerson was sentenced to serve 114 years in Alabama prisons, convicted … Continued

As multiple recent state and national news stories have illustrated, overcrowded state prisons is one of the key challenges facing Alabama. While the State Legislature has made significant strides over the past few years in the area of criminal justice reform, Alabama’s prisons are still at about 166 percent of capacity. This creates a dangerous … Continued

A second inmate at the William E. Donaldson Correctional Facility in Bessemer has died within the last four days, but it was unclear Tuesday how the man died.  Elvin Burnseed, 53, of Dothan was found by correctional officers Monday “lying on a top tier in his dorm,” according to a press release Tuesday from the … Continued

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

Congressman Mo Brooks, R-Huntsville, voted “No” on S. 756, the First Step Act of 2018. Rep. Brooks says that the legislation releases violent criminals from prison early, making Americans less safe and more likely to be victims of violent crimes and drug overdoses. “The Senate version of the First Step Act is a step backward,” … Continued