![]() 3 hearing argued that repealing the state’s Habitual Felony Offender Act would limit the length of sentences that a judge might hand down to a repeat offender. Chris England, D-Tuscaloosa, that would repeal the state’s Habitual Felony Offender Act, was sent to a subcommittee for further work. 3 approved a series of sentencing reform bills aimed at giving judges more flexibility when sentencing, but a bill by Rep. ![]() The Alabama House Judiciary Committee on Jan. It’s the result of disastrously misguided and unfair policies, written in the name of appearing tough on crime, policies we must now end, because we must be smart on crime.” “Our mass incarceration problem is not a reflection of a population more violent, or more criminal than any other. “As our friends at The Sentencing Project make clear with this report, it’s past time for jurisdictions across the country to embrace these reforms,” Racine said. Council, which gives those who were incarcerated for crimes they committed as young people a chance at resentencing once they’ve served substantial prison time and an expansion of that law in 2020 that broadened it to cover those convicted of crimes before they turned 25. Racine discussed the 2016 passages of the Incarceration Reduction Amendment Act by the D.C. “This is a sign just how unforgiving and how unjust the justice system is for young black and brown offenders.” “Thousands of them were given life without parole, even though that practice is condemned roundly amongst the international community, and a disproportionate number of those individuals incarcerated are people of color,” Racine said. are serving life sentences for crimes they committed before they turned 18. In Alabama, 12 percent of those serving life were convicted of drug-related offenses.ĭistrict of Columbia Attorney General Karl Racine, speaking during the call, noted the report’s finding that more than 100,000 in the U.S. While the number of people serving life with the possibility of parole dropped by three percent nationally between 20, according to the report, some states still have higher percentages of LWP inmates, including Alabama, which ranks fifth-highest, with 16 percent of inmates serving LWP sentences.Īlabama also hands down life sentences for people convicted of drug-related offenses at much higher levels than the national average, of 3 percent of the total prison population. “Reforms will fall short in ending mass incarceration if we fail to shorten sentences for those convicted of violent crimes, including life imprisonment.”Īlabama ranks eighth-highest in the percentage of those serving LWOP, LWP or virtual life who are Black, at 65 percent, according to the report. “We view this as profoundly troubling, in an era where Americans have grown uneasy with our placement as the world’s leader in incarceration,” Nellis said. Researchers also found that thirty percent of people serving life sentences are 55 or older. More than two-thirds of those serving life sentences are people of color, Nellis said, and one in five Black men in prison today are serving a life sentence. “This report is really a wake-up call for the nation to roll back our outdated, excessive and frankly, often racially motivated punishments of the past.” We’re actually a global outlier,” said Amy Fettig, executive director at The Sentencing Project, speaking to reporters during a press call Wednesday. “That is more people serving life in this country than in any other nation in the world. prisons is serving either life without parole, life with parole, or virtual life, which the nonprofit defines as those serving 50 years or more, according to the report. The Sentencing Project, a Washington D.C.-based nonprofit that advocates for sentencing reforms and reduced incarceration, in its report, titled “ No End in Sight,” said that almost five times the number of people are serving life sentences in the U.S. Alabama prisons rank fourth-highest in the nation for the percentage of incarcerated people who are serving either life without the possibility of parole, life with the possibility of parole or sentences of at least 50 years, according to a report released Wednesday.
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