Issue: Criminal Justice

Medicaid expansion, end to grocery tax highlight Alabama Arise’s 2019 priorities

By Chris Sanders

Medicaid expansion and legislation to end the state sales tax on groceries are among the top goals on Alabama Arise’s 2019 legislative agenda. More than 200 Arise members picked the organization’s issue priorities at its annual meeting Saturday, Sept. 8, 2018, in Montgomery. The seven issues chosen were:

  • Tax reform, including untaxing groceries and closing corporate income tax loopholes.
  • Adequate funding for vital services like education, health care and child care, including approval of new tax revenue to protect and expand Medicaid.
  • State funding for the newly created Public Transportation Trust Fund.
  • Consumer protections to limit high-interest payday loans and auto title loans in Alabama.
  • Legislation to establish automatic universal voter registration in Alabama.
  • Reforms to Alabama’s criminal justice debt policies, including changes related to cash bail and civil asset forfeiture.
  • Reforms to Alabama’s death penalty system, including a moratorium on executions.

“Public policy barriers block the path to real opportunity and justice for far too many Alabamians,” Alabama Arise executive director Robyn Hyden said. “We’re excited to unveil our 2019 blueprint to build a more just, inclusive state and make it easier for all families to make ends meet.”

Alabama’s failure to expand Medicaid to cover adults with low wages has trapped about 300,000 people in a coverage gap, making too much to qualify for Medicaid but too little to receive subsidies for Marketplace coverage under the Affordable Care Act. Expanding Medicaid would save hundreds of lives, create thousands of jobs and pump hundreds of millions of dollars a year into Alabama’s economy. Expansion also would help keep rural hospitals and clinics open across the state.

The state grocery tax is another harmful policy choice that works against Alabamians’ efforts to get ahead. Alabama is one of only three states with no sales tax break on groceries. (Mississippi and South Dakota are the others.) The grocery tax essentially acts as a tax on survival, adding hundreds of dollars a year to the cost of a basic necessity of life. The tax also is a key driver of Alabama’s upside-down tax system, which on average forces families with low and moderate incomes to pay twice as much of what they make in state and local taxes as the richest Alabamians do.

SB 55: Allowing ALEA to issue hardship driving permits makes sense for Alabama

By Dev Wakeley

Update: SB 55 is now law! Gov. Kay Ivey signed the bill on March 22, following votes in the Alabama House (95-1) and Senate (26-1) to pass a conference committee version of the bill on March 15. Earlier, the House voted 88-5 for a similar version on March 1, while the Senate voted 26-1 for its own version on Feb. 1.

Suspending driver’s licenses hurts thousands of Alabamians every year. One of the greatest obstacles to employment is the lack of a driver’s license. Thousands of people in Alabama have their driver’s licenses suspended every year for convictions unrelated to driving.

These Alabamians risk losing their jobs in a nation where 90 percent of us need to drive to work. And the challenges go further: Mothers with suspended licenses cannot go buy groceries, drive to the doctor, or drop their children off at school. People undergoing addiction treatment cannot legally drive to see their sponsors to get help in preventing a relapse.

SB 55, sponsored by Sen. Clyde Chambliss, R-Prattville, would go a long way toward fixing these problems by allowing people who have had their licenses suspended or revoked, but who still need to drive, to drive on a limited basis. These Alabamians could obtain a hardship driver’s license by demonstrating to the satisfaction of the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA) that they are not a risk to public safety and cannot obtain other reasonable transportation.

This bill would allow people who need to take their children to school, go to the doctor, or help family members see a doctor to do so without breaking the law. SB 55 is a reasonable, common-sense response to a problem that hurts thousands of Alabamians every year.

BOTTOM LINE: SB 55 would remove unnecessary obstacles to essential participation in society for people who need to drive to work, go to the grocery store and attend to other everyday tasks. Allowing ALEA to issue limited driver’s licenses makes sense and would help tens of thousands of people throughout Alabama.

Push to block Alabama tax break for private school tuition succeeds; Ivey signs bill to create hardship driver’s licenses

By Chris Sanders

Arise members had two big reasons to celebrate Thursday, as Gov. Kay Ivey signed a pair of bills that finalize policy wins related to our organization’s 2018 issue priorities. One law will halt (at least for now) an effort to create a new state tax break for private school tuition in Alabama, while the other will help ease the transportation burden that can result from unpaid court fines and fees.

Arise members win push to stop state tax break for private school tuition

Ivey’s signing of HB 251 on Thursday marked the final step in Arise members’ sucdcessful push to save millions of dollars per year for public schools across Alabama. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Ken Johnson, R-Moulton – originally would have allowed people to use education savings accounts known as 529 plans to receive a state income tax break on money used for K-12 private school tuition. But by the time the bill reached Ivey’s desk, those provisions were nowhere to be seen.

Arise members deserve an enormous share of the credit for blocking that tax break. That proposal would have turned 529 plans – originally designed to encourage long-term college savings – into vehicles to subsidize private schools at the expense of public education. The change would have cost the Education Trust Fund millions of dollars a year.

The tax break easily passed the House and appeared to be sailing toward legislative passage – until hundreds of Arise members and other advocates sounded the alarm, flooding the Senate with emails and phone calls in opposition to the plan. That pressure worked: Last week, the Senate amended HB 251 to remove the language that would have created the tax break for private school tuition. The House quickly agreed and sent the revised legislation to Ivey for her signature.

Hardship driver’s licenses could ease transportation burden for thousands

Another new law enacted Thursday stands to lift employment barriers and expand transportation access for thousands of Alabamians. SB 55, sponsored by Sen. Clyde Chambliss, R-Prattville, will allow the state to issue hardship driver’s licenses to thousands of people, including many who have had their licenses suspended or revoked for convictions unrelated to driving.

Under SB 55, those Alabamians could receive hardship driver’s licenses – allowing them to drive on a limited basis – if they can demonstrate to the satisfaction of the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency that they are not a risk to public safety and cannot obtain other reasonable transportation. People convicted of drunken driving or reckless driving would be ineligible for hardship licenses.

The new law could give thousands of Alabamians a legal way to drive to work, go to doctor’s appointments and fulfill other essential tasks of everyday life. And it represents an important breakthrough in Arise’s work to ease the burden of criminal justice debt on low-income families.

By Chris Sanders, communications director. Posted March 22, 2018.

Plan to shorten appeals process in Alabama death penalty cases clears House, Senate committees

By Chris Sanders

The Alabama House and Senate soon could vote on a plan to shorten the appeals process for people convicted of capital murder in the state. Judiciary Committee members in both the House and Senate approved the legislation Wednesday.

The House panel voted 9-6 for HB 216, sponsored by Rep. Lynn Greer, R-Rogersville. Earlier, the Senate committee voted 7-1 for SB 194, sponsored by Sen. Bill Holtzclaw, R-Madison. The bills are identical.

Direct and collateral appeals would run concurrently in death penalty cases in Alabama under HB 216 and SB 194, labeled the “Fair Justice Act,” thus shortening the appeals process in capital cases. The bills also would require the state to provide lawyers for both sets of appeals if defendants are too poor to pay for their own representation.

The plan would accelerate the pace of post-conviction appeals known as Rule 32 appeals. Those collateral appeals, which examine claims such as ineffective assistance of counsel, now occur after the completion of direct appeals that consider issues such as sufficiency of evidence. Under the plan, defendants would have to file Rule 32 petitions within 180 days of filing their first direct appeal.

‘We ought to be able to do better’

HB 216 and SB 194 prompted intense debate among lawmakers Wednesday over whether a faster appeals timetable could increase the chances that an innocent person might be put to death. Supporters of the bills said they would protect defendants’ rights while reducing long delays in carrying out executions.

“We’re looking at the average appeal process is 16 years and climbing,” Holtzclaw said. “We can’t lose sight of the fact that these people were convicted by a jury of their peers.”

Recent advances in DNA testing and other technology have reduced the likelihood that a person will wrongly end up on death row, Madison County District Attorney Rob Broussard told House committee members. Of the roughly 1,500 people sentenced to death nationwide since 2000, Broussard said, only four have been exonerated. “The notion that there are a lot of innocent people on death row, I take exception to that,” he said.

Broussard said appeals are still being heard in some Alabama capital cases that were prosecuted more than 15 years ago. He said that lengthy process is unfair to victims’ families, who sometimes have to wait decades before the person convicted of murdering their loved one is executed. “The system we have in place is being abused,” Broussard said. “We ought to be able to do better.”

‘Sometimes we do get it wrong’

Rep. Chris England, D-Tuscaloosa, was highly critical of the proposal, saying it would reduce the amount of time that a defendant’s lawyers have to unearth potential errors. “Sometimes we do get it wrong,” England said. “And sometimes this time has saved people.”

Rep. Mike Jones, R-Andalusia, was among several lawmakers who urged members to take more time to study HB 216. Jones said he supports the death penalty but would like to know more about how average appeal times now would compare to those under the proposed system. “My concern is whether we’re moving too fast,” Jones said. “This is not a simple thing to read through and piece together.”

Sen. Vivian Figures, D-Mobile, said the issue was simple for her, because she opposes the death penalty entirely. “Thou shalt not kill, and two wrongs don’t make a right,” Figures said. Figures was the only Senate committee member to vote against SB 194 on Wednesday.

Alabama lawmakers should be careful to ensure fairness for low-income and marginalized people as they consider reforms of the death penalty system, Bishop David Foley told House committee members. Foley, bishop emeritus of the Birmingham Diocese of the Roman Catholic Church, said innocent people are not the only ones who need extra time. People who are guilty of murder also need time to seek forgiveness and reconciliation, he said.

“In God’s eyes, life is sacred, not just for the innocent but for the guilty,” Foley said. “Only the cross of forgiveness and the final justice of God will truly bring the scales into balance.”

Two other death penalty bills approved; one delayed

Lawmakers signed off Wednesday on two other proposals related to the death penalty. Both House and Senate committees backed bills – HB 218, sponsored by Greer, and SB 193, sponsored by Holtzclaw – to add to the list of offenses defined as capital crimes. For example, the legislation would allow the state to seek the death penalty for any murder committed in a day care or on a school campus.

The House panel also voted 10-5 to approve a bill – HB 219, sponsored by Greer – that would require an attorney or a party in a death penalty case, or anyone acting on their behalf, to obtain a judge’s permission before contacting jurors after the case. Gathering information from jurors is a technique that many defense attorneys use in determining whether there was any improper behavior during trials.

Jones said judges already instruct jurors that they are not required to talk to attorneys after the case. Jones acknowledged concerns that some people might harass jurors or misrepresent themselves, but he suggested an amendment to the state’s jury tampering law would be a better way to address the matter.

The House committee delayed a vote on a bill that would prohibit capital defense attorneys from contacting a victim’s immediate family members before notifying the prosecutor. HB 217, sponsored by Greer, would allow the prosecutor either to agree to the request or ask the court to forbid the contact.

Committee members raised several concerns about the proposal. England said the bill could create appellate issues by limiting access to material witnesses and giving the prosecutor “an inherent advantage over the defense.” Rep. David Standridge, R-Hayden, said the measure needs a clearer definition of “immediate family member.” The committee postponed a vote on the bill but could reconsider it in coming weeks.

Lawmakers will return Thursday for the sixth day of the 2014 regular session, which is expected to last until early April.

By Chris Sanders, communications director. Policy analyst Stephen Stetson contributed to this report. Posted Jan. 22, 2014.

Bill to ease burden of cash bail on low-income Alabamians clears Senate committee

By Dev Wakeley

A bill that would significantly ease the financial burden on low-income Alabamians accused of municipal violations won unanimous Senate committee approval Wednesday. SB 31, sponsored by Sen. Greg Albritton, R-Atmore, would be a major step forward on criminal justice debt reform, which Arise members chose as one of our 2018 issue priorities. The bill cleared the Senate Judiciary Committee 10-0 and awaits a Senate vote.

Under current state law, municipal judges can jail people for many minor violations and misdemeanors pending trial unless they can afford a bond, which may cost hundreds of dollars. When the judges impose bonds, they are not required to ask if defendants are financially able to pay the bond that would allow them to leave jail and go home.

SB 31 would help reduce crowding at municipal jails across Alabama by removing cash bail requirements for people accused of many violations and misdemeanors when those people have not shown a reason to believe that they are a risk to public safety or that they will not show up for court. The bill would not change bond requirements for crimes related to domestic violence or drunken driving.

Many Alabamians live paycheck to paycheck and do not have hundreds of dollars available to spend on a bail bond. This bill would help protect families’ financial well-being by allowing low-income workers not to risk losing their jobs because they cannot bond out of jail after being charged with a minor offense. The measure also would save money for cities, which no longer would have to pay to house and feed people accused of minor crimes until their trials.

By Dev Wakeley, policy analyst. Posted Jan. 10, 2018.

Medicaid funding, public transportation highlight Arise’s 2018 priorities

By Chris Sanders

New Medicaid revenue and creation of a state Public Transportation Trust Fund are among the goals on Alabama Arise’s 2018 legislative agenda. Nearly 200 Arise members picked the group’s issue priorities at its annual meeting Saturday, Sept. 16, 2017, in Montgomery. The seven goals chosen were:

  • Tax reform, including untaxing groceries and closing corporate income tax loopholes;
  • Adequate funding for vital services like education, health care and child care, including approval of new tax revenue to prevent Medicaid cuts;
  • Consumer protections to limit high-interest payday loans and auto title loans in Alabama;
  • Dedicated state revenue for the Alabama Housing Trust Fund;
  • Reforms to Alabama’s death penalty system, including a moratorium on executions;
  • Creation of a state Public Transportation Trust Fund; and
  • Reforms to Alabama’s criminal justice debt policies, including changes related to cash bail and driver’s license revocations for minor offenses.

“All Alabamians deserve equal justice and an opportunity to build a better life for themselves and their families,” Alabama Arise state coordinator Kimble Forrister said. “We’re excited to continue our work for policy changes that would make it easier for hard-working Alabamians to get ahead.”

More than one in five Alabamians – almost all of whom are children, seniors, pregnant women, or people with disabilities – have health coverage through Medicaid. That coverage plays an important role in keeping hospitals and doctors’ offices open across the state, especially in rural areas.

“Medicaid is the backbone of Alabama’s health care system, and we must keep it strong,” Forrister said. “The Legislature needs to step up and approve new, sustainable revenue for Medicaid in 2018. It’s time to stop the annual funding battles and ensure all Alabamians have access to health care.”

Lack of adequate transportation is another major challenge that limits economic growth and erects barriers to daily living for many low-income residents and people with disabilities across Alabama. Arise will push for creation of a state Public Transportation Trust Fund as a step toward closing that gap. A bill to create a trust fund passed the Senate this year and has momentum heading into 2018.

‘Ban the box’ bill clears first hurdle, wins Alabama Senate committee approval

By Chris Sanders

Alabama lawmakers took a first step Wednesday toward enacting a policy that would make it easier for people to re-enter the workforce after serving their time for a criminal offense. The Senate Judiciary Committee voted 6-2 for SB 200, which would create a “ban the box” policy for many state and local government jobs. The bill, sponsored by Sen. Quinton Ross, D-Montgomery, goes to the Senate.

Ross’ bill would remove the criminal history checkbox from applications for many jobs with state and local governments in Alabama. SB 200 would include exceptions for certain public jobs, including ones where federal or state law deems certain convictions to be automatic bars to employment. The bill also would not apply to private employers.

SB 200 would not require state or local government employers to hire any particular person, and it would not forbid them to ask about an applicant’s conviction history. Instead, the bill would delay that inquiry until after an applicant has received a conditional job offer.

“Ban the box” advocates say such policies give applicants a fairer chance to be considered on their merits rather than being instantly eliminated from the applicant pool. “Increasing employment opportunities for people with records will reduce recidivism and improve economic stability in our communities,” Section 1 of SB 200 states.

Alabama would be far from alone in adopting a “ban the box” policy for public jobs. Twenty-six states have some form of “ban the box” or “fair chance” policy as of April 2017, according to the National Employment Law Project. That list includes Southern states like Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana and Tennessee. Many private employers – including Home Depot, Target and Walmart – have “banned the box” on their initial job applications as well.

By Chris Sanders, communications director. Posted April 12, 2017.

End of judicial override is a win for justice in Alabama

By Chris Sanders

Arise Citizens’ Policy Project executive director Kimble Forrister issued the following statement Tuesday, April 4, 2017, after the House voted 78-19 for a bill to end Alabama’s judicial override policy, which allows judges to impose a death sentence in capital cases despite a jury’s sentencing recommendation of life in prison without the possibility of parole:

“Judicial override is about to become a thing of the past, and Alabama’s justice system will be better as a result. It’s time for our state to put the sentencing decisions in death penalty cases where they belong: in the jury’s hands. We’re happy to see such strong support in the House and Senate for ending this outdated practice, and we hope the governor will sign it into law quickly.”

A victory for justice: Legislature votes to end judicial override in Alabama

By Chris Sanders

UPDATE: Gov. Kay Ivey signed SB 16 into law on April 11, 2017, ending judicial override in all future capital cases in Alabama.

The age of judicial override in the United States is about to come to an end. The Alabama House voted 78-19 Tuesday to end the practice, which allows judges to override juries’ sentencing recommendations in death penalty cases. Alabama is the last state in the country to allow judicial override in capital cases.

SB 16, sponsored by Sen. Dick Brewbaker, R-Pike Road, now goes to Gov. Robert Bentley for his consideration. Bentley is “looking forward to signing this bill,” he said in a statement. The state Senate already passed the bill 30-1 in February.

“Judicial override is about to become a thing of the past, and Alabama’s justice system will be better as a result,” Arise executive director Kimble Forrister said. “It’s time for our state to put the sentencing decisions in death penalty cases where they belong: in the jury’s hands. We’re happy to see such strong support in the House and Senate for ending this outdated practice, and we hope the governor will sign it into law quickly.”

Judicial override regularly has been used to impose death sentences in Alabama despite a jury’s sentencing recommendation of life in prison without the possibility of parole. Alabama judges used judicial override 112 times between 1978 and early 2016, according to the Equal Justice Initiative. In 101 (or 90.2 percent) of those instances, override was used to impose a death sentence despite a jury’s recommendation of life without parole. (Read Arise’s fact sheet to learn more about judicial override.)

Judicial override ban does not apply retroactively

Rep. Chris England, D-Tuscaloosa, the House sponsor of legislation to end judicial override, said the decision of whether to sentence someone convicted of a capital crime to death was a weighty moral question that should be entrusted to a jury of one’s peers rather than a judge. “A law degree does not make you more qualified to decide whether to sentence someone to life or death,” England said.

The House vote came after England agreed to amendments that made his judicial override bill (HB 32) match Brewbaker’s version. England then substituted SB 16 for his own bill, allowing the House to vote on the measure and send it directly to Bentley.

SB 16 explicitly states that it would not apply retroactively to defendants sentenced to death before the bill’s passage. It also would preserve current Alabama law allowing juries to recommend death if 10 of 12 jurors agree. England’s original bill would have required a unanimous jury vote to impose the death penalty, but he accepted the changes to win support for ending judicial override.

End of judicial override draws closer as Alabama House committee approves Senate bill

By Chris Sanders

The era of judicial override in Alabama death penalty cases came one step closer to an end Wednesday, when the House Judiciary Committee approved a bill that would end the unusual practice. SB 16, sponsored by Sen. Dick Brewbaker, R-Pike Road, now awaits consideration by the full House. The Senate passed the bill 30-1 last month.

Wednesday’s vote was the second time that the House committee approved a measure to end Alabama’s practice of allowing judges to override juries’ sentencing recommendations in death penalty cases. The committee voted 10-2 last month to approve a similar House bill: HB 32, sponsored by Rep. Chris England, D-Tuscaloosa.

Alabama is the only state in the country that allows judicial override in capital cases. The practice regularly is used to impose death sentences despite a jury’s sentencing recommendation of life in prison without the possibility of parole. (Read Arise’s fact sheet to learn more about judicial override.)

Alabama judges used judicial override 112 times between 1978 and early 2016, according to the Equal Justice Initiative. In 101 (or 90.2 percent) of those instances, override was used to impose a death sentence despite a jury’s recommendation of life without parole.

The House and Senate bills are largely identical, with two major exceptions. Brewbaker’s bill explicitly states that it would not apply retroactively to defendants sentenced to death before the bill’s passage. It also would preserve current Alabama law allowing juries to recommend death if 10 of 12 jurors agree. England’s bill would require a unanimous jury vote to impose the death penalty.

England said Wednesday that he is willing to accept the changes in the Senate version. His ultimate goal with the legislation, he said, is to end judicial override.