Alabama Voices

ALABAMA NEEDS 'NEW BOTTOM LINE' IN PRISONS

Alabama prisons are overcrowded. In fact, Alabama prisons are 114 percent
over capacity and despite the proclamations of certain state officials,
plenty of the people who are packed like sardines in these prisons can and
should be released. Many of the people in this category are nonviolent
offenders who have been reincarcerated because of technical parole violations.

There are hundreds of people in Alabama correctional facilities not because
they committed more crimes, but because they missed a meeting with their
parole officer or were noncompliant with other parole regulations.

Yes, it is important for individuals who are on parole to comply with the
terms of their parole, but in Alabama the problem is that too many people
are on parole too long. When this happens, parole morphs from a lifeline
used for successful societal reintegration into a rope that trips and hangs
people who are trying to lead normal law-abiding lives.

Today in Alabama, there are 11,605 prisoners who are serving time past
their original parole eligibility date and 2,843 of those persons are
low-level, nonviolent offenders. Likewise, there are thousands of people
who, after serving time in prison, are released but are required to remain
on parole for five to 10 additional years. Herein lies the problem.

Criminologists at the JFA Institute, a leading research organization, have
determined that beyond the first year parole becomes less effective and is
a major burden on prisons and parole boards.

Keeping low-level, nonviolent offenders incarcerated is a poor use of
valuable, limited bed space. Jesus declared that he came to set the captive
free. For those who love Jesus and his message of reconciliation, it is
time to speak up and demand sentencing and parole reform. Everyone, from
individual citizens to religious leaders, to policy makers, to prison
officials, to corporate executives, has a stake in eliminating prison
overcrowding and ineffective parole practices.

We can implement meaningful change if we acknowledge that there is a
problem and that the problem can be solved. In these austere times we must
look at the fiscal, societal and human impact of prison overcrowding and
bad sentencing practices and find the will to do better.

We must look at the irrefutable body of evidence that has been presented to
us by researchers and educate ourselves and others on the importance of
sentencing and parole reform.

Year in and year out the Alabama Sentencing Commission has made
recommendations for developing sensible sentencing practices. We applaud
Sen. Roger Smitherman and Rep. Marcel Black for having the fiscal, common
and moral sense to introduce Senate Bill 365 and House Bill 647, companion
bills known as the Effective Parole and Public Safety Act. Now the people
of Alabama must demand that state legislators take heed and pass this
legislation mandating the termination of parole for individuals who
successfully comply with parole guidelines for two years.

The old paradigm in corrections was to respond to prison overcrowding by
ignoring it, denying it or building new prisons. In the 21st century,
Alabama must embrace a new paradigm that really solves problems and enables
all Alabamians to realize their fullest potential. Our policy decisions
should be guided by a matrix that asks "Does this decision advance justice,
fairness, reason, compassion, freedom, and spirituality and does it reduce
death, disease, harm and suffering in our communities?"

In short, Alabama must embrace a new bottom line. Simply stated, the new
bottom line is this: Alabamians must reform sentencing and parole
practices, release nonviolent offenders from prison, invest in
community-based youth and treatment programs, develop effective community
reintegration programs and open the doors of employment to those who have
been incarcerated. In so doing we will move our state, our quality of life
and our economy forward by leaps and bounds. Kenneth Glasgow of Dothan is
the founder and president of The Ordinary People Society, or TOPS. Kobi
Little of Selma is the founder of the Institute for Theology and Social
Justice. Together they direct the New Bottom Line Campaign, a statewide
effort to reform sentencing and other criminal justice practices in Alabama.