Alabama’s Chief Justice, Sue Bell Cobb, is faced with a prison system that is running at 195 per cent of capacity, and a huge correction budget of $577 million a year, four times as much as it was in 1990. Alabama has the dubious distinction of having the most overcrowded prison system in America, and holds the sixth highest incarceration rate.
With these facts in mind, the chief justice called judges to attend a three day conference to obtain ideas on how to fix Alabama’s failing criminal justice system. One of the first items considered was what to do with people who stand before the court on drug charges. Chief Justice Cobb noted that in 2009, fifty per cent of all new inmates in Alabama’s correctional system were there on drug charges.
At least one judge, Karen Hall, toured the Elmore and Tutwiler prisons, and had a revelation about the impact her sentences have on young females and males. Seeing first hand the overcrowding, and lack of available rehabilitation and recreational programs made Judge Hall think about considering different sentencing options in the future.
Madison County in Alabama has a progressive criminal justice system with drug and mental health courts for first time offenders, but other counties consider incarceration as the only solution. Alan Mann, who was both a prosecutor and defense attorney in his long career stated that being tough on crime is not realistic. The consensus of conference participants is that putting people in prison for non-violent crimes strains the state’s budget, and does not provide rehabilitation. Chief justice Hall would like to see work camps, boot camps and halfway houses be used as alternatives to incarceration, according to the Huntsville Times The bad news, Mann claims, is that some of his clients can not afford alternative programs, so their only choice is probation. The good news is that at least Alabama is reexamining its flawed criminal justice system, and is coming up with ideas on how to improve it.
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