Latest news with #JeromeDees
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Criminal justice reform takes back seat in 2025 legislative session
A pair of handcuffs poking through prison bars. Most bills aimed at reforming the criminal justice system failed in the session, though advocates were encouraged by the progress of some proposals. (File/Getty) It was the same story for criminal justice reform in the Alabama Legislature this year as in previous years: bills got filed, but most never made it to Gov. Kay Ivey's desk. Legislators did enact laws making incremental changes, such as a bill to make it easier for people who were formerly incarcerated to obtain occupational licenses and create more opportunities for diversion programs were approved. And advocates said they were encouraged that legislation they continue to support moved further along in the process than in the past. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX 'Giving a grade on criminal justice reform in Alabama is always a challenge because the steps that are taken forward are, oftentimes, minimal, although they are impactful to certain segments of the population,' said Jerome Dees, policy director for the Southern Poverty Law Center. 'However, what we as a collective community need to do is change the narrative around what actually is public safety and what drives making neighborhoods and communities safe.' Bills to reform the parole and bail system in the state; allowing reconsideration of sentences for nonviolent offenses imposed before reforms of the Habitual Felony Offender Act, and delaying sentencing for those who are pregnant failed within their committees or stalled and were not considered by either the full House or Senate. 'There wasn't any legislation passed for criminal justice reform, but there were still some very meaningful conversations about it that did move the needle forward, including a very frank discussion about the parole board to make sure there is oversight and attention to that fact that the parole board is not in compliance with the law,' said Rep. Chris England, D-Tuscaloosa. The Republican-dominated Legislature instead approved measures that increased existing penalties or provided an advantage to law enforcement in some way, including a bill enhancing immunity protections for law enforcement. Reforming parole and bail was a focus of advocates, particularly as Republican legislators had shown growing impatience with the Alabama Board of Pardons and Parole missing deadlines to implement parole guidelines. 'I think one of the many things that we hoped to see coming out of the 2025 legislative session was legislation that created more accountability and transparency around the parole process,' Dees said. 'There were a number of bills that were filed to specifically address that.' HB 40, sponsored England, would have created a commission to create updated parole guidelines and require the board to stick with them. Under the bill, if the board deviated from the guidelines, it would have to publicly state why. Parole applicants would also have been able to appeal denials to the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals. Another bill, SB 324, sponsored by Sen. Clyde Chambliss, R-Prattville, would have increased the number of members who serve on the Parole Board from three to five and require the Senate to confirm the appointments. It would also have changed the timeline that an applicant who has been denied can reapply for parole. The Senate approved the measure by a vote of 16-8 in April and the House Judiciary Committee approved the bill soon afterward by the narrowest of margins. The bill did not come out for a House vote. Chambliss later amended the state's 2026 General Fund budget, which goes into effect on Oct. 1, to withhold the Board of Pardons and Parole's funding until they develop parole guidelines. Lawmakers have scrutinized Alabama's parole system since 2019 when the state's parole system decreased dramatically. The figure has increased to about 25% recently but remains below the original rate. Legislators also turned away proposals to allow Alabama judges to issue a percentage bond to those in pretrial detention. HB 42, also sponsored by England, would have left much of the Alabama Bail Reform Act of 1993 in place except to add three words, 'a part of' to current statutes to give judges the authority to allow defendants to pay a portion of the total bond amount they owe so that they can be released from jail as their cases proceed through the court system. The bail bond industry strongly opposed the legislation during two public hearings at both the House and Senate Judiciary committees. The bill passed the House in April. But the Senate Judiciary Committee deadlocked on approval of the measure along party lines. The Alabama Legislature also allowed another bill, SB 156, sponsored by Sen. Will Barfoot, R-Pike Road, to fail. The bill allows some of those incarcerated in Alabama's prisons to have their sentences reconsidered by a judge if their crimes did not involve physical injury to others. The bill would have allowed people who were convicted and received lengthy sentences before the state made substantial changes to the Habitual Offender Law in 2000 to give judges more discretion regarding sentencing. Defendants who were convicted of homicides, sexually based offenses and violent offenses were not eligible for reconsideration. The bill required two rounds of voting in the Senate chamber after members of the Senate Judiciary approved it in February. In March, Senate Republicans rejected the legislation with a tie vote 16-16. Hours later, senators approved a motion to reconsider the legislation, and after discussing the bill, passed it by a vote of 17-8. The House Judiciary Committee then approved the legislation in April, but it never came to a vote in the House. 'We were of course disappointed to see the Second Chance bill fail to pass the House, especially in light of the broad, bipartisan support it had this time around,' said Elaine Burdeshaw in a statement, policy director for Alabama Appleseed Center for Law and Justice, a criminal justice reform organization. 'Despite the bill's failure, we saw legislators across the aisle, all the way up to Gov. Ivey, understand this issue and why it matters– why it really is smart on crime policy.' SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
02-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Civil rights groups stump for voting rights bills in Alabama Legislature
Jerome Dees, policy director for the Southern Poverty Law Center speaks to supporters at the Statehouse on Tuesday, April 1, 2025 to focus on voting rights legislation that has yet to receive consideration in the Legislature. Civil rights groups hosted a Statehouse rally and workshop Tuesday in support of voting rights legislation that has largely stalled in the Alabama Legislature. Representatives of the Southern Poverty Law Center; Faith in Action Alabama and the League of Women Voters of Alabama urged lawmakers to consider bills that allow people to cure their absentee ballot affidavits, eliminate obstacles for people who are formerly incarcerated to regain their voting rights, and stump for the Alabama Voting Rights Act that protects voters from possible voter discrimination. 'Voting should be a simple, convenient process that allows every eligible voter to easily participate,' said Jerome Dees, policy director for the Southern Poverty Law Center. 'But we know in Alabama, far too often, that is not the case.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX The proposals, mostly sponsored by Democrats, have yet to garner any consideration from the Republican-dominated Legislature. 'I don't know of any issues of people having trouble voting,' said Rep. Bob Fincher, R-Woodland, the chair of the House Constitution, Campaigns and Elections Committee in an interview Monday evening. 'Anyone who is eligible to vote in the state may register.' The bills have stalled amid fears that states are further restricting access to the ballot box. 'I think nationally, what we are seeing, is an increasing gulf between states that are moving to restrict access to the ballot and making it harder for people to vote, and states that are doing the opposite and making it easier for people to vote, and increasing access to the ballot box,' said Jonathan Diaz, director of voting advocacy and partnerships with the Campaign Legal Center, a nonpartisan democracy rights organization. States that have increased restrictions for voting have focused on laws that prove eligibility. 'Basically, requiring voters to provide new and burdensome documentation or paperwork requirements to prove their eligibility, so states requiring passports or birth certificates, or other documents that many Americans don't have even if they are a U.S. citizen, or that would require some kind of cost or time to obtain,' Diaz said. Alabama has had a photo voter ID requirement since 2014. In recent years, it has banned drop boxes for ballots and private aid for conducting elections. Last year, the Legislature approved a measure criminalizing some forms of absentee ballot assistance, a law that was partially blocked by a federal judge last fall. Civil rights groups are monitoring two fronts, concerned with not only rules and regulations that states are imposing on voting, but also the federal government that has followed laws enacted by states. The SAVE Act, which is currently working its way through Congress, would require people to provide another set of documentation to register to vote, such as enhanced drivers' licenses, passports or birth certificates. It would also hinder efforts of people to register to vote by mail and online, while increasing the frequency that states must update their voter rolls by removing people from their voter registration lists. 'Election workers could go to prison for up to five years if they help to register somebody without the correct documents, even if the registered voter is a citizen,' according to an explainer from the CLC. 'This is not going to save anything,' said Kathy Jones, president of the League of Women Voters of Alabama, at Tuesday's rally. 'It is going to disenfranchise a whole lot of people.' President Donald Trump also issued an executive order to further restrict voter access by requiring people to provide proof of citizenship, such as a passport, to register to vote. It also prohibits state election officials from counting ballots received after the election allowed by state law or having their federal funding withheld. Diaz said that the Campaign Legal Center filed a lawsuit to challenge the president's authority to implement additional regulations aimed at further restricting voters' access to the ballot box. 'The constitution is very clear that the president does not have the authority to set election policies or set voter registration requirements,' Diaz said. 'The states have that responsibility, and Congress has the power to set national rules by legislating. The constitution has no role for the president in the establishment of election rules.' Among the bills that groups prioritized during the event is SB 7, sponsored by Sen. Kirk Hatcher, D-Montgomery, called the Alabama Voting Rights Act. The bill is comprehensive meant to address several aspects of voting that have been priorities for voting rights groups. Hatcher's bill creates the Alabama Voting Rights Commission that would assume the role that the U.S. Department of Justice performed prior to 2013's Shelby County v. Holder ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court that struck down a portion of the Voting Rights Act requiring the U.S. Department of Justice to preclear changes to voting laws in jurisdictions with a history of discriminatory voting practices. The bill would also allow voters to cast absentee ballots without citing a reason like illness or confinement. It would also allow people who were released in prison to regain their voting rights automatically for crimes considered crimes of moral turpitude after they meet the conditions of their parole absent paying for court costs and fines and restitution. 'If we can have a convicted felon to be president, then why are we setting up barriers to stop people from voting,' said Gregory Scott, pastor of Christian Methodist Episcopal Church in Huntsville, who spoke for Faith in Action Alabama during Tuesday's rally. 'That is hypocritical, and if Alabama is to be the kind of state it needs to be, we cannot have that kind of hypocritical work done in this Legislature.' HB 31, sponsored by Rep. Adline Clarke, D-Mobile, allows people with a disability, or those unable to read or write, to designate someone to assist them with delivering an absentee ballot application or the absentee ballot itself, to the election manager. 'I know that bill, and I believe that people with a disability should receive assistance,' Fincher said. 'We are working with the Secretary of State's Office to address that issue administratively, so that is the reason that has not been introduced.' HB 97, sponsored by Rep. Kenyatté Hassell, D-Montgomery, allows people to cure their absentee ballot affidavit if they submit them before the election and the absentee election manager finds an error. Currently, the ballots are set aside and not counted if election officials find a defect with the affidavits. HB 64, sponsored by Rep. Ontario Tillman, D-Bessemer, would make election day a federal holiday so that people are able to vote without excusing themselves from work. Thus far, none of the bills have even been considered in their respective committees. 'I think it would give credibility to the state of Alabama,' said Terry Hamilton-Poore, pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Birmingham, of expanding voting rights for Faith in Action Alabama. 'Right now, this state is viewed as backwards, and it is not entirely wrong in terms of our politics.' SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
06-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Tariffs' impact on restaurant menu items in SF Bay Area
SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — Shoppers could soon quickly see higher prices for produce and beef in the stores. Due to newly announced tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China from President Trump. Restaurants in the Bay Area like Tacolicious in San Francisco are ready to make adjustments to their menus. The taco-inspired restaurant announced their changes in a letter to their customers, further stating that they will be remixing items, including guacamole. 'The price has to change a little bit due to the tariffs,' said Jerome Dees of Tacolicious. With three locations in the Bay Area, the San Francisco shop isn't the only one having to pivot its menu items. European food hall could be opening in downtown Walnut Creek 'It's hard to operate a restaurant if you can't use cooking oil,' said Amy Cleary with the Golden Gate Restaurant Association. 'They may look at alternate sources from where they were getting them before.' According to experts, these 10 food items will soon cost more. Avocados Strawberries Peppers Nuts Beer Cooking oil Seafood Maple syrup Butter Beef 'This is going to impact every restaurant,' Cleary said. With the growing concern of these trade wars, restaurants and business owners say all they can do is just brace for the impact. 'There were more easily substitutable items here in the Bay Area, unfortunately,' Dees said. 'With the exception of a couple of price tweaks, we've been lucky to keep the menu basically the same.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
