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.
sentencing reform
Alabama Department of Corrections “disappointed” by “surprise” DOJ report on excessive force
The Alabama Department of Corrections on Friday responded to a scathing report released Thursday by the U.S. Department of Justice detailing correctional officers’ violence against incarcerated men in state prisons, saying the department was “disappointed in the surprise manner” in which the DOJ released the report. The DOJ’s report details numerous instances of unprovoked and … Continued
DA defends imprisonment of disabled vet for marijuana charges
West Alabama District Attorney Andy Hamlin defended the court decision to revoke Sean Worsley’s probation, sending the Black disabled veteran to state prison for 60 months on felony marijuana charges. Hamlin spoke to APR in a phone interview about the case. Sean Worsley is a Black disabled veteran who was arrested on felony marijuana charges … Continued
Cannabis advocates troubled by veteran’s 5-year sentence for medical marijuana
The Alabama Cannabis Industry Association on Monday released a statement critical of the decision by an Alabama court to imprison an Arizona man for five years after his probation for a 2016 marijuana arrest was revoked in April. Sean Worsley was an Iraq War vet who legally uses marijuana for post-traumatic stress disorder, and for … Continued
Black disabled veteran sentenced to spend 60 months in prison for medical marijuana
A 2016 arrest for marijuana that has turned into a 60-month sentence in an Alabama penitentiary for a disabled veteran from Arizona is drawing national attention.
Ivey’s prison study group recommends spending, anti-recidivism efforts, goes light on sentencing reform
On Thursday the long-awaited policy recommendations of Gov Kay Ivey’s bi-partisan Study Group on Criminal Justice Policy were released, which include suggestions on spending, sentencing reform and recidivism reduction. The group, formed in July and required to release its recommendations before the Legislative session begins Tuesday, didn’t always agree on every topic up for consideration, … Continued
Chip Brown introduces bill to allow judge to deny bail to violent offenders
Wednesday, State Representative Chip Brown (R – Mobile) and Angela Harris, the mother of Auburn murder victim Aniah Blanchard, were in Montgomery urging legislators to support a proposed Alabama Constitutional amendment that allows prosecutors and judges broader discretion in requesting and denying bail to those accused of committing violent crimes. Section 16 of the 1901 … Continued
County commissioners report: 2015 prison reform led to less prisoners in prison but more in county jails
Wednesday, the Executive Director of the Association of County Commissions of Alabama Sonny Brasfield told county commissioners that sentencing reform in 2015 has shifted more prisoners and the costs of those prisons from state prisons to county jails and county budgets. “I let you down,” Brasfield told the commissioners. In 2015, the state legislature passed … Continued
McCutcheon: Brick and mortar will be part of state’s prison reform
Thursday, Speaker of the House Mac McCutcheon (R-Monrovia) spoke to the Alabama Association of County Commissioners about the prison crisis and told them that “Construction is going to be on the table.” “When you look at the facilities, some of them are so old that it is not cost productive to put money in to … Continued
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