We’ve had some pretty good weather lately. If you get the chance, make sure you take advantage of the comfortable temperatures and low pollen level to get some fresh air. Maybe take a short walk outside during your lunch break.
Alabama top stories in brief
- The Walker County Sheriff’s office is currently being sued by the family of Anthony Don Mitchell, who died in an emergency room with an internal body temperature of 72 degrees. Mitchell was taken into custody on January 12 after a cousin asked the sheriff’s office to do a wellness check. Mitchell’s family believe that he was placed into a freezer and left there, resulting in his death. The lawsuit says that the emergency room doctor who tended Mitchell believed hypothermia to be the cause of his death.
- Alabama is one of 13 states that still taxes groceries and is one of three states that do so without any form of credit or rebate to alleviate the burden of the tax. Both conservative and liberal activists are lobbying for state lawmakers to pass a bill removing the tax during this upcoming legislative session.
- Alabama State Superintendent of Education Eric Mackey has requested an additional $984 million be added to his department’s funding for 2024. Mackey said that over a quarter of the funding would go towards hiring more teachers, counselors and assistant principals.
- Rep. Barry Moore is sponsoring a bill that would make the AR-15 the national gun of the United States.
New bills pre-filed as part of reform efforts for ADOC
The Alabama Department of Corrections is no stranger to criticism. In 2020, the U.S. Department of Justice sued ADOC for failing to keep inmates safe. In 2022, Stacy Lee George, a former corrections officer who ran for governor, criticized ADOC for unsafe prison conditions.
Now, Rep. Chris England, D-Tuscaloosa, has pre-filed two bills aimed at changing Alabama’s criminal justice system. House Bill 14 is aimed at the death penalty and would require that the death bill only be imposed in cases where the jury votes for it unanimously. Currently, judges in Alabama can choose to impose the death penalty as long as at least 10 out of 12 jurors vote for the sentence.
England’s other bill, House Bill 16, would create the Criminal Justice Policy Development Council, which would develop a set of eligibility guidelines for inmates to be paroled and require that the Board of Pardons and Paroles use them or explain why it didn’t in its reports.
England is not the only legislator looking to change state prison laws. Republican Sen. April Weaver is proposing new legislation to further restrict good time incentives. Good time has already undergone changes this year through executive action to increase punishments for prisoners who break prison rules. The new bill would decrease the amount of good time that could be earned and add new circumstances that would require incarcerated individuals to forfeit earned good time off their sentences.
England and many advocates for prison reforms have been highly critical of the changes already made to good time rules. Groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union of Alabama have spoken out against Weaver’s proposed legislation.
An area under which lawmakers agree that prison reform should occur is the aging population. At least a fourth of those incarcerated in ADOC facilities are over 50 years old and many of them require additional care due to their age. According to a report by Alabama Appleseed, the cost of holding people in prison doubles after they turn 50. Currently, they estimate that it costs ADOC on average over $30,000 a year per incarcerated individual.
Our articles you might have missed
- Do you like the rain? What about when you forget your umbrella and have to get wet? It can be hard to enjoy the little things in life when the big things seem to pile up. Thankfully, there’s always a bright side to look on. In this month’s installment of The Breathing Room, managing editor Hannah Irvin encourages readers to be optimistic, even when it rains.
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