Criminal Justice
All Alabamians deserve equal justice under the law. But from court fees to civil asset forfeiture to capital punishment, our state’s justice system contains a range of policies that often take a heavier toll on people who live in poverty. Arise works to explain how these practices affect the lives of low-income Alabamians and to propose reforms aimed at ensuring greater fairness and equity for all.
Featured Resources
Fact Sheet
Alabama’s death penalty system remains unusually cruel
Overview Alabama took an important step toward death penalty reform in 2017, but the state’s system remains broken. That year, Alabama finally outlawed judicial override in capital cases. That means judges no longer can impose the death penalty when a jury recommends life without parole. But the ban was not retroactive, and dozens of people [...]
Fact Sheet
Alabama’s parole system is still broken. How can we fix it?
Overview Alabama’s parole system has fallen far short of even its own standards for success over the last five years. These failures have worsened the shortcomings in our criminal justice system. Alabama’s three-member parole board granted parole in only 26% of cases in 2024, even though its own guidelines recommended parole in 81%. Alabama has [...]
Resources
Las prioridades legislativas de Alabama Arise para 2025
Más de 150 grupos miembros de Alabama Arise y más de 1,500 miembros individuales eligen todos los años nuestras prioridades legislativas. Este proceso garantiza que los habitantes de Alabama más afectados por la pobreza participen de las decisiones. A continuación se enumeran las prioridades que nuestros miembros eligieron para 2025. Para obtener una versión de este [...]
Member Resources
Alabama Arise 2025 legislative priorities
More than 150 Alabama Arise member groups and more than 1,500 individual members choose our legislative priorities each year. This process ensures that Alabamians most impacted by poverty have a seat at the table. Below are the priorities that our members selected for 2025. For a PDF version of this document, click here or click [...]
Fact Sheet
It’s time to provide older Alabamians with a second chance: Pass Rep. England’s HB 229
Alabama’s prison population has steadily been getting older and more expensive to house. In 2005, about 36% of people in Alabama Department of Corrections (ADOC) custody were between ages 15 and 30. By 2021, that number had been halved and is now around 18%. Our state’s crime rate fell dramatically – by nearly 17% – [...]
Fact Sheet
It’s time for Alabama to end outdated death penalty practices: Pass Rep. England’s HB 14
HB 14 by Rep. Chris England, D-Tuscaloosa, would require unanimous jury sentencing in death penalty cases and make the ban on judicial override retroactive. Here’s why Alabama Arise supports this legislation: Alabama is one of only two states* that doesn’t require a unanimous jury verdict to sentence someone to death. In Alabama, only 10 jurors [...]
Fact Sheet
Alabama shouldn’t make housing insecurity a crime: Vote ‘No’ on HB 24
HB 24, sponsored by Rep. Reed Ingram, R-Pike Road, would make it a Class C misdemeanor to loiter on a public roadway or the right-of-way of a public roadway. This effectively would criminalize Alabamians who are experiencing homelessness and asking for help. Here are three reasons why Arise opposes this bill: Alabama should invest in [...]
Fact Sheet
Vote ‘Yes’ on SB 154 / HB 264 – Sen. Barfoot & Rep. Wadsworth’s bills to end debt-based driver’s license suspensions
Debt-based driver’s license suspensions are harming people and communities across Alabama. SB 154 by Sen. Will Barfoot, R-Pike Road, and HB 264 by Rep. Tim Wadsworth, R-Arley, would ease this burden for thousands of people. Here are four reasons to support these bills in the Alabama Legislature’s 2023 regular session: 95% of the nearly 170,000 [...]
Fact Sheet
Criminal justice debt creates major barriers to economic health
It is unconstitutional to jail someone just because they owe money. But Alabama has no set process for courts to determine if a defendant can afford to pay fines and fees. And though debtors’ prisons are illegal, thousands of Alabamians are in danger of going to jail or are driven further into poverty because they [...]
Fact Sheet
Alabama’s death penalty practices remain unjust and unusually cruel
Americans increasingly oppose the death penalty. Gallup found that opposition to the death penalty more than doubled in the past 25 years. This may result from disturbingly high error rates in the system. For every 10 people executed since 1976, one innocent person on death row has been set free. Alabama took an important step toward death penalty reform [...]
