Prison reform bill filed; task force approves policy recs

The Alabama Prison Reform Task Force Tuesday approved a policy framework caling for greater investments in parole, probation and treatment as a first step toward addressing the state’s prison overcrowding crisis.

The policy recommendations closely follow legislation filed Monday by Sen. Cam Ward, R-Alabaster, the chairman of the Task Force. The bill reflects recommendations by the Council of State Governments to create a new felony class, reclassify some crimes and reduce imprisonment for technical violations of parole. The task force also approved a recommendation to add 2,000 beds to the Corrections system; Ward said after the meeting he believed it would be reflected in Gov. Robert Bentley’s budget recommendation.

The Legislature will have to approve the bill, and Ward stressed through the meting that passage was not a guarantee. But he said afterward that without the bill, there were two options.

“One, you have a massive tax increase to build new prisons, or two, you allow a federal judge to dictate what we do,” he said.

The proposals by themselves will not solve the crowding problem. The best-case scenario outlined by CSG was a reduction of 4,500 beds over the next six years, bringing total capacity to 162 percent.

“It’s as far as you’ll get in the legislative process,” Ward said. “I’m being blunt with you.”

With building included, the recommendations are expected to cost $35 million over five years, about nine percent of the current $394 million budget. Corrections has requested a $40 million increase; Ward said some of the recommendations are reflected in the budget request.

Alabama’s prisons in October held just under 25,000 inmates in a system built for just over 13,000, or a capcity of 187 percent. While overcrowding has been an issue for decades, violence in state facilities has spiked in recent years. The U.S. Department of Justice is investigating the Julia Tutwiler Prison for Women over accusations of physical and sexual assault.

At least six homicides have taken place at the St. Clair Correctional Facility in recent years, and allegations of physical or sexual violence directed at inmates have been leveled at three other Alabama prisons, including the Elmore County Correctional Facility. Lawmakers have openly spoken about the possibility of the state prison system falling into federal receivership, which could lead to significant releases of inmates, significant spending increases, or both.

A host of issues contribute to overcrowding, including longer sentences and the decline in the number of paroles granted. In January, the Council of State Governments recommended a proposal focused on parolees and inmates released on probation. The proposals include the hiring of 123 additional probation and parole staff; limits of incarceration for technical violations of probation and parole; split sentences and mandatory supervision for inmates convicted of Class C felonies, with incarceration not to exceed two years and a new Class D felony -- with a sentence ranging from a year and a day to five years a maximum fine of $7,500 -- encompassing the least serious, nonviolent offenses.

The proposals also redefine third-degree burglary to apply to habitations, and separates marijuana from drug possession statutes. Those recommendations are in Ward’s bill.

A number of members of the task force, both liberal and conservative, felt the recommendations could go further. Shay Farley, legal director of Alabama Appleseed, noted that making presumtive sentencing guidelines retroactive could cut the prison population down to 140 percent, a population level that would likely pass muster with the federal courts. Farley was seconded by Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore, an outspoken social conservative, who pushed to add language recommending studies of the impact of the state’s Habitual Offender Law.

“There’s a lot of people in there serving 99 years and life for sentences that two or three years in prison might address,” Moore said, adding later that not address the impact of the law on the prison population was like “putting a Band-Aid on a major injury.”

Ward was not unsympathetic to the arguments, but said that he believed the bill as introduced was about as much as he could get from lawmakers. However, he said that the process was “not static” and suggested that the recommendations could be taken up in the future.

The task force did approve language encouraging study of the impact of the Habitual Offender Act; Ward said he believed the new Class D felony would address that

The task force voted to continue its work for another year to continue devleoping recommendations. The taks force also considered a recommendation for the state to add 2,000 beds to the prison system over the next five years. Though Ward and other members have said building out of the problem would be too expensive, Ward suggested that adding capacity would help bring overcrowding to the 140 percent number.

Highlights of the Council of State Governments’ recommendations:

-- Create a Class D felony for the least serious felonies. These would include simple drug possession; forgery and fraudulent use of a debit/credit card; felony theft between $500 and $1,499; and low-level burglary.

-- Split sentences for Class C felonies, with mandatory supervision.

-- Hiring of 123 probation and parole staff.

-- Limits on incarceration for technical probation and parole violations.