criminal justice reform in alabama

157 Pages·2007·0.76 MB·English

CRIMINAL JUSTICE REFORM IN ALABAMA
A Report and Analysis of Criminal Justice Issues in Alabama
Part One:
Sentencing, Probation, Prison Conditions and Parole
Prepared By The
EQUAL JUSTICE INITIATIVE OF ALABAMA
122 Commerce Street
Montgomery, Alabama 36104
www.eji.org
March 2005

Criminal Justice Reform in Alabama – Part One
Equal Justice Initiative – Table of Contents
TABLE OF CONTENTS
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
I. SENTENCING, PROBATION, PRISON CONDITIONS AND PAROLE IN
ALABAMA. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
A. Sentencing.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
B. Probation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
C. Prison Conditions.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
D. Parole. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
II. RECOMMENDATIONS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
A. Recommendations for Sentencing Reforms in Alabama.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Drug Offenses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Non-Violent and Violent Crimes.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
B. Recommendations for Reform of Probation in Alabama. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
C. Recommendations for Prison Conditions Reform in Alabama.. . . . . . . . . . . . 8
D. Recommendations for Reform of Pardons and Parole. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
III. CONCLUSION.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
SECTION ONE: SENTENCING. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
I. SENTENCING IN ALABAMA. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
A. History of Sentencing.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
B. The Habitual Felony Offender Act. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
C. The Alabama Sentencing Commission.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
II. DRUG OFFENSES. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
A. Current State of the Law. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
1. Range of Sentences. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
2. Habitual Felony Offender Act. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
3. Internal Case Study: DUI v. Marijuana Possession. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
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Criminal Justice Reform in Alabama – Part One
Equal Justice Initiative – Table of Contents
B. Comparison to Other Jurisdictions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
C. Recent Developments.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
III. NON-VIOLENT CRIMES.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
A. Current State of the Law. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
1. Range of Sentences. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
2. Habitual Felony Offender Act. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
B. Comparison to Other Jurisdictions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
C. Recent Developments/Attempts at Reform. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
IV. VIOLENT CRIMES... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
A. Current State of the Law.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Range of Sentences. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
B. Comparison to Other Jurisdictions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
C. Recent Developments/Attempts at Reform. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
1. Capital Punishment Legislation.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
2. Non-Capital Legislation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
3. Truth in Sentencing.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
4. Alternative Sentencing.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
V. EDUCATION EFFECT.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
RECOMMENDATIONS.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
CONCLUSION.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Appendix I.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Appendix II. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
SECTION TWO: PROBATION.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
I. OVERVIEW. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
II. HOW PROBATION WORKS.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
A. Eligibility for Probation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
B. Granting Probation.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
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Criminal Justice Reform in Alabama – Part One
Equal Justice Initiative – Table of Contents
C. Completing Probation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
D. Revoking Probation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
III. PROBATION REVOCATION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
A. Due Process. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
B. Right to Counsel.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
C. Imprisonment for Failure to Pay Fines. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
RECOMMENDATIONS.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
CONCLUSION.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
SECTION THREE: PRISON CONDITIONS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
I. OVERCROWDING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
II. PRIVATE PRISONS.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
A. History. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
B. Response to Overcrowding Woes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
C. Legislative Action. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
D. Facility Concerns.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
E. Family Concerns.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
F. In-State Facilities.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
III. MEDICAL CARE FOR ALABAMA PRISONERS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
A. Rights of Prisoners. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
B. Disturbances in Alabama. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
1. Injury.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
2. Death.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
C. Areas of Special Need.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
1. HIV/ AIDS.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
2. Hepatitis C.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
3. Mental Health. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
4. Women. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
D. Recent Changes.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
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Criminal Justice Reform in Alabama – Part One
Equal Justice Initiative – Table of Contents
IV. THE PLIGHT OF ELDERLY INMATES. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
A. Health Care Costs.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
B. Additional Challenges.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
C. Alabama’s Approach to Incarcerating the Elderly.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
D. Techniques in Other Southern States in 2004. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
V. PRISON PHONE PRICE-GOUGING.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
A. History of Prison Pay Phone Service in Alabama. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
B. Unfair Rates Fund State Kickbacks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
C. Technical Difficulties. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
Attorney Calls.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
D. History of Reform Efforts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
1. Litigation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
2. Legislation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
3. Changes in DOC Decision-making. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
RECOMMENDATIONS.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
CONCLUSION.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
SECTION IV: PAROLE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
I. THE ALABAMA BOARD OF PARDONS AND PAROLES. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
II. PAROLE STATISTICS IN ALABAMA. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
III. RECENT LEGISLATION.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
A. Background.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
B. Recent Legislative Proposals/Trends.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
1. Truth in Sentencing.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
2. Commutation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
3. Appropriation of Funds to Board of Pardons and Paroles. . . . . . . . 119
IV. RECENT DEVELOPMENTS.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
A. Rescinding Grants of Parole.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
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Criminal Justice Reform in Alabama – Part One
Equal Justice Initiative – Table of Contents
B. Victim Notification.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
C. Special Dockets.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
V. COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF ALABAMA PAROLE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
A. State Systems.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
B. Statistics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
VI. PARDONS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
A. Background.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
B. Pardons (Restoration of Full Political and Civil Rights) Granted
in the Last Decade. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
C. Racial Background of Those Pardoned (Full Restoration of
Political and Civil Rights) Between Feb. 1, 2000 - Jan. 31, 2003. . . . . . . . . . 130
D. Restoration of Voting Rights. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
VII. THE BOARD. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
IX. ALABAMA’S PAROLE PROCESS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
A. Article 1: Intake. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
B. Article 2: Rescheduling of Consideration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
C. Article 3: Docket. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
D. Article 4: Notice of Hearings.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
E. Article 5: Preliminary Review of Docketed Cases.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
F. Article 6: Board Action. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
G. Article 7: Certification and Reconsideration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
H. Article 11: Parole Violations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
I. Article 12: Parole Court Hearings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
J. Article 13: Parole Court Reports.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
K. Article 14: Board Action Subsequent to Parole Court. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
L. Article 15: Records.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
M. Article 16: Flexibility in Responding to Crisis.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
RECOMMENDATIONS.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
CONCLUSION.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
v

Criminal Justice Reform in Alabama – Part One
Equal Justice Initiative – Executive Summary
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Alabama’s criminal justice system is in crisis. Mass incarceration, severe prison
overcrowding, budget-busting costs and unfair sentencing have created conditions and practices
that threaten the state’s resources and basic human rights. Alabama’s criminal justice system
has marginalized thousands of residents and devastated many poor and minority communities
while failing to improve public safety in any appreciable way. Many criminal justice policies have
contributed to endemic hopelessness and dysfunctional and criminal behavior and have proven
to be very ineffective.
The costs of many criminal justice policies have additionally created a fiscal crisis.
Education spending and state planning and development have been undermined by out-of-
control prison costs and financial demands generated by sentencing policies and misguided
practices.
These problems have been fostered by a lack of information and critical analysis and
shielded by a legal and political culture that is fearful of sensible reform unless it appears “tough
on crime.” This report provides a critical assessment of many criminal justice issues in the hope
that more informed debate, dialogue and decision-making can take place in Alabama.
Part one of this report addresses sentencing, probation, prison conditions and parole in
Alabama.1 Alabama’s sentencing laws, ineffective use of probation, unregulated and politicized
parole procedures and an underfunded prison system have conspired to create one of the
highest incarceration rates in the world. The consequences are devastating for poor people and
people of color as well as Alabama’s economic, social and political health. Alabama’s political
and legal culture allows politicians to use prisons and punishment to manage social and health
care problems. This ill-advised approach has resulted in record deficits and a fiscal crisis that
creates both a serious threat to public welfare and an opportunity for significant reform.
I. SENTENCING, PROBATION, PRISON CONDITIONS AND
PAROLE IN ALABAMA
A. Sentencing
1Forthcoming reports will address a range of other criminal justice issues in Alabama
including indigent defense, judicial selection, juveniles, the death penalty, law enforcement and
the prosecutorial function.
1
Criminal Justice Reform in Alabama – Part One
Equal Justice Initiative – Executive Summary
In the last twenty-five years, Alabama’s prison population has skyrocketed from 6000
prisoners in 1979 to nearly 28,000 prisoners today. The dramatic increase in the number of
people sent to prison is primarily the result of changes in Alabama’s sentencing laws. The use
of incarceration to punish illegal drug use and the passage of the Habitual Felony Offender Act
in 1979 have created a crisis in the administration of criminal justice. Alabama now has one of
the highest incarceration rates in the United States, the country with the highest incarceration
rate in the world.
Both drug laws and the HFOA have imprisoned thousands of non-violent inmates for
extremely lengthy and harsh sentences. Defendants convicted of writing a bad check, simple
marijuana possession or a minor property crime have been sentenced to life in prison or life
imprisonment without parole. Although the punitive and harsh political climate has made
reform difficult, politicians and legislators have come to recognize that these laws are inefficient
and too costly.
Drug laws in Alabama are among the most severe in the country. In the last twenty
years, the number of drug offenders sent to prison has increased by 478%, as compared to a
“mere” 119% increase for other convicts. Simple marijuana possession can be treated as a
felony with some offenders receiving lengthy prison sentences for a first offense. Mandatory
minimum sentences for repeat offenders and mandatory “add-on” sentences for drug use or
trafficking near a school or church can result in fifteen-year sentences or life in prison for first
offenses. First-time drug offenders have been sentenced to life in prison without parole.2
Tremendous disparities exist between the state’s management of alcohol-related offenses –
which tend to result in the arrest of white men – and its treatment of simple marijuana
possession – which nets disproportionately high numbers of African-American men. The long-
term incarceration of drug offenders for simple possession of comparatively small quantities of
drugs has contributed greatly to mass incarceration in Alabama.
Other non-violent property crimes also have resulted in extremely severe and harsh
prison sentences. Offenders in Alabama have been sentenced to life imprisonment without
parole for stealing a bicycle, writing bad checks and other minor property crimes. Some 8000
prisoners in Alabama have been sentenced under the Habitual Felony Offender Act.
Finally, Alabama’s sentencing scheme for violent offenses is also extreme. The state has
one of the most expansive death penalty statutes in the country, with the most death row
prisoners per capita in the United States. An enormous number of people are serving life
2See Wilson v. State, 830 So. 2d 765 (Ala. Crim. App. 2001).
2