.@GovernorKayIvey, we need to have a special session on criminal justice reform. Since @USAttyTown came to Montgomery and told us that our prison system was worse than the death penalty, conditions have gotten worse. @ALCorrections and @ALBPP are working against reform.
Let’s talk @ALBPP first. Remember the law we passed to “reform” the Parole board? Well, since that bill passed and you appointed Charlie Graddick, only two things have changed, the name to “Bureau” and they basically do not grant parole at all now.
Since November, there have been 1135 hearings. Only 159 have been granted. That’s 14%. Most recently, after you had to force them to hold hearings during the pandemic, the numbers got worse. They somehow managed to INCREASE the population.
That’s right. They increased it. Of the 160 parole hearings from May, only 15 people were granted parole. 37 people had their parole revoked, 13 of which were on technical violations. They put people back in prison because of a failed drug test DURING A PANDEMIC.
Also, according to the SPLC, “of the 15 people granted parole in May, 11 were white and four were Black. In other words, potential white parolees were nearly three times more likely to be granted parole than their Black counterparts.” Rumors are that June will be worse.
By the way, while @ALBPP continues to deny parole, there are currently over 1000 inmates in county jails waiting to go into ADOC custody. You want to talk about overcrowding? It’s about to get much worse during this pandemic.
Before I forget, @GovernorKayIvey, I’m not sure if you are aware of this, but did you know that @ALBPP has stopped having pardon hearings? I have constituents that have been waiting for YEARS for a pardon. @ALBPP hasn’t had a pardon hearing since March. No explanation as to why.
Do you know how many job opportunities were lost while waiting years for a pardon? How many missed elections because those waiting can’t vote? Thousands of people haven’t heard anything about the status of their request.
So to sum it up, the Bureau of PARDONS and PAROLES is neither giving Pardons nor Paroles. They are completely abdicating their two fundamental responsibilities. But as bad as @ALBPP may be, @ALCorrections is much worse.
Since the DOJ report, violence and abuse of the incarcerated population has increased, the flow of controlled substances into the prisons has gotten worse, and the @ALCorrections “hope nothing bad happens” plan for COVID19 has failed miserably.
There has been an increase in homicides, suicides, and assaults on inmates both by other inmates and also staff. We have learned that a culture of corruption exists at just about all levels that creates an environment that breeds this sort of danger and despair.
For example, at least 6 people have died at Kilby over the last 2 weeks. A women died in ADOC custody in a staircase struggling to breathe and no one helped her. There have been many other “unexplained” deaths over the last few months.
We have recently been made aware that a CO fatally assaulted an inmate, a nurse denied that inmate care that could have saved him, and then other employees attempted to cover it up. google.com/amp/s/www.al.c…
We all know that there are assaults and other harrowing incidents that have not been publicized. Historically @ALCorrections has not been the most transparent government agency. In fact, they haven’t provided a basic statistical report to the public since January. 
We still haven’t been given any details about a prison construction plan that will spend 2.6 billion dollars that at best only addresses half of the state’s needed prison beds. So, we lack transparency and information at just about all levels of our criminal justice system.
Concerning COVID19, based on the very limited information we have been given, the only conclusion you can draw is that coronavirus is running rampant throughout our prison system. What ADOC will tell you is that only 27 inmates have tested positive. Not bad right, right?
However, the truth is that they don’t know what is going on. As of Friday, only 214 of the states 22,000 inmates have been tested for the coronavirus. 99 employees have tested positive. Employees and/or inmates at 21 of 28 facilities have tested positive. But not bad, right?
Seriously, what does it take to get fired around here? Not doing Pardons or granting paroles? More homicides and suicides? More examples of corruption? More people subjected to a coronavirus infection without a plan? More inmates dying? Something has to give here.
.@GovernorKayIvey, almost all of the the men and women who are in ADOC custody were not sentenced to death. However, based on what we know about the current conditions, it is hard to tell the difference. Building prisons isn’t the answer. Something has to be done now. #alpolitics
