SPEAKERS WANT MORE JUSTICE

A state law aimed at habitual offenders took a severe hit Saturday
evening during a town hall meeting about the ills of Alabama's prison
system.

Local radio host Roberta Franklin of WAPZ 1250 AM organized the
meeting, which was attended by approximately 400 people, including
legislators, ministers and prison rights groups.

"The Habitual Offender Act is wrong," said Rep. John Knight,
D-Montgomery, who observed that of the state's 27,495 state inmates,
8,104 have been convicted under the Habitual Offender Act.

"This is a very serious problem," he said.

Alabama's Habitual Offender Act, passed in 1978, calls for stiffer
penalties for repeat offenders

It led to the possibility of life sentences or life without parole
sentences for some who have committed only property crimes.

It is essentially a three-strikes-and-you're-out law that calls for
life sentences for third-time felony offenders.

Knight said the Habitual Offender Act is not "cut and dried" but
rather affected by other problems within the criminal justice system.

The legislator said too many poor people lack good representation and
too many are convinced by lawyers to plead guilty to lesser offenses.
He added more community-based programs are needed so nonviolent
inmates can keep jobs and stay at home while being rehabilitated
rather than incarcerated.

Franklin echoed the sentiments of Knight and other
speakers.

"Drug addicts need help. They don't need prisons," she
said.

The meeting carried a largely political tone, accented by Franklin's
admonition to the audience.

"Look what you have gotten as a result of pulling the Democratic
lever," she told the largely black audience.

Ralph Timberlake, a Huntsville resident, came to protest injustice in
the penal system, and, in particular, perhaps the greatest injustice.

"I think one innocent man (in prison) is one person too many,"
Timberlake said.

Franklin's scolding of Democrats translated to a hearty welcome for
political candidates from other parties, such as Libertarian
gubernatorial candidate John Sophocleus, the only candidate for
governor to attend the meeting. Republican candidate Bob Riley and
Democratic incumbent Gov. Don Siegelman didn't attend.

Several speakers at the meeting focused on injustice against not only
blacks but also poor whites and Indian inmates who, they said, are
suffering in Alabama's criminal justice system.