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What’s going on here? So many laws have been enacted to put people in prison. Very few prisons are being built. The “three strikes you’re out” law has ensured over crowding. Also more human behavior is a crime now than ever before. We keep making new laws, but at the same time doing precious little to change the bad behavior of those at risk of going to prison.
The Alabama Sentencing Commission was formed to help establish and maintain an effective, fair, and efficient sentencing system for Alabama that enhances public safety, provides truth-in-sentencing, avoids unwarranted disparity, retains meaningful judicial discretion, recognizes the most efficient and effective use of correctional resources, and provides a meaningful array of sentencing options.
Rebecca Green Thomason – Attorney at Law
In Alabama when a person is convicted of a crime the judge pronounces the sentence. A person who is convicted of a class “C” felony can receive a prison term of up to ten years. You may have seen news where someone was sentenced to a number of years. The actual time that is served is almost never the sentence that was given by the judge!
The simple answer? Alabama has too many people in prison! The Alabama Department of Corrections (DOC) statistics show that the prison population grows by 300 to 400 new inmates each year, even with the 12,000 people per year who are released. Alabama has the most crowded prison system in the country. Our prisons hold nearly 27,000 inmates, but were built for only 13,400!
What’s going on here? So many laws have been enacted to put people in prison. Very few prisons are being built. The “three strikes you’re out” law has ensured over crowding. Also more human behavior is a crime now than ever before. We keep making new laws, but at the same time doing precious little to change the bad behavior of those at risk of going to prison.In order to reduce the State’s prison population, many programs have been put in place such as work release, good time, community corrections and others. Still, the prisons remain overcrowded. This has caused the early release of persons convicted and sentenced. In Alabama, a prisoner sentenced to nine years usually serves three. It has gotten that bad!
Another problem is that one area of the state may not sentence the same as others for the same crimes. A judge in north Alabama may be extremely hard on thieves who come before him. He sentences them hard and then explains to them his feelings on their misdeeds. Somewhere else in Alabama the judge may not apply as strict a sentence, but will rely on some sort of alternative to a lot of jail time. Some judges sentence those convicted of simple drug possession to the maximum. While others believe that addiction is a health problem, so they sentence drug offenders to a minimum amount of time.
The Alabama Sentencing Commission was formed to help establish and maintain an effective, fair, and efficient sentencing system for Alabama that enhances public safety, provides truth-in-sentencing, avoids unwarranted disparity, retains meaningful judicial discretion, recognizes the most efficient and effective use of correctional resources, and provides a meaningful array of sentencing options.For twelve years the commission has studied Alabama’s sentencing practices and prison crowding and has made recommendations to lawmakers and judges about the lengths of prison terms. Because of this commission’s recommendation, in October 2013, new mandatory sentencing guidelines will be in effect. These mandatory sentencing guidelines will shorten the time defendants serve in prison on drug and low-end property crimes.
By cutting down on the number of non-violent offenders who go to prison and shorting the sentence lengths for those who do go to prison, there should be space in Alabama prisons for violent offenders who should not be released into society. It will also insure that a person who is sentenced in Franklin County will receive the same sentence for the same crime as a person who is convicted in Lauderdale, Colbert, or Lawrence Counties.
Rebecca Green Thomason
Attorney At Law
1 comment
While this may help, we still have the “judge’s discretion,” as you have pointed out. Alabama is one of only four to six (correct me if I’m wrong) states which give prison sentences for white collar crime. On the flip, side there are those who say white collar crime costs the public more than other crime. I wonder how many state legislators handle their personal budgets as they wish the Alabama prison system to handle theirs.