08-04-2025
Criminal justice reform group urges passage of Alabama parole reform bills
Veronica Johnson, interim executive director of the Alabama Justice Coalition, speaks with supporters at the Alabama Statehouse on Tuesday, April, 8 2025 who attended the event to urge lawmakers to enact legislation to reform the state's parole system. (Ralph Chapoco/Alabama Reflector)
A criminal justice reform group held a rally at the Alabama Statehouse Tuesday urging lawmakers to pass bills overhauling parole.
About 20 supporters attended the gathering led by Alabamians for Fair Justice Coalition and the Alabama Justice Initiative urging lawmakers to pass two bills: SB 157, sponsored by Sen. Will Barfoot, R-Pike Road, which would permit those who are incarcerated to virtually attend their parole hearings and address the board via phone or video conference; and HB 40, sponsored by Rep. Chris England, D-Tuscaloosa, which would create new oversight of the parole board.
The state's relatively low parole rates have long drawn criticism from criminal justice reform advocates. The state's parole rate was about 24% in February, according to the Bureau of Pardons and Paroles, higher than the 8% grant rate in 2023 but dramatically down from the 55% that it was in 2017.
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Lawmakers have also expressed frustration with Leigh Gwathney, chair of the Parole Board.
P.J. Brown, an advocate from Montgomery who attended the event, said that she attended a parole hearing in February to speak on behalf of her son whose case was before the board. Brown said the board reviewed her son's case along with four others in a group. All applicants in that group were denied.
'One gentleman had been there for 27 years, 27 plus, certifications, different courses he had taken to turn himself around and be one of the liaisons for other inmates coming in who just didn't understand how to do time,' Brown said.
Veronica Johnson, interim executive director of the Alabama Justice Coalition, said they wanted 'a new Parole Board.'
'We want oversight over the Parole Board,' she said. 'We need accountability, and at this point, we have no accountability.'
SB 157 and HB 40 remain stalled in their chambers of origin.
SB 157 would change the current protocol, which bars parole applicants from directly addressing the Board at their hearings and instead requires them to submit written statements or have information referred to the board through interviews with personnel who prepare their materials.
The bill also states that the applicant is not permitted to interact with the victims unless they want to hear the statement.
HB 40 directs the Board of Pardons and Paroles to create guidelines on parole and release. The bill would require the Board to give reasons for deviating from the guidelines in denying parole and allows applicants to appeal the Board's decision to the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals should they be denied.
Similar bills to HB 40 failed for the past three years after Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee refused to support it, but it passed this year after England was able to convince enough Republicans to back the measure.
Brown said she is not against punishment, but against getting punished maliciously.
'When did the rehabilitation start?' she said. 'When did the punishment end that they had to continue on to be kicked down and be shoved back into that institution.'
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