Entries by Carla Crowder

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April 2026: News and Updates

Hello from Alabama Appleseed! Our April newsletter contains your monthly dose of hope and justice from right here in Alabama. We accomplished surprising things this quarter. And Jason Isbell stopped by. Read more here. Highlights: Appleseed’s focus on representing people unnecessarily incarcerated under extreme sentences has resulted in freedom for dozens of Alabamians. They are […]

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Chapter 4: The Process of Healing

In recognition of National Crime Victims Rights Week, Appleseed is sharing a series of blog posts on grief, trauma, loss, and healing by our Community Navigator, Callie Greer. Callie is a powerful voice for survivors in Alabama. Based on her own experiences losing two children, working through grief, finding forgiveness, and passing on her life’s […]

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Chapter 3: The process of mourning

In recognition of National Crime Victims Rights Week, Appleseed is sharing a series of blog posts on grief, trauma, loss, and healing by our Community Navigator, Callie Greer. Callie is a powerful voice for survivors in Alabama. Based on her own experiences losing two children, working through grief, finding forgiveness, and passing on her life’s […]

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Appleseed Post-Session Briefing: Two good bills passed, a prison oversight pilot created, and renewed optimism for continued prison reform in Alabama

Highlights: Appleseed succeeded in pushing two criminal justice reform bills over the finish line this session. We also helped develop a pilot program for independent prison oversight that will launch immediately. By working alongside justice-involved people and families of incarcerated Alabamians, Appleseed was able to identify issues that matter to the people most impacted by […]

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Chapter 2: The Process of Grieving

In recognition of National Crime Victims Rights Week, Appleseed is sharing a series of blog posts on grief, trauma, loss, and healing by our Community Navigator, Callie Greer. Callie is a powerful voice for survivors in Alabama. Based on her own experiences losing two children, working through grief, finding forgiveness, and passing on her life’s […]

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Chapter One: What it means to speak as a survivor

In recognition of National Crime Victims Rights Week, Appleseed is sharing a series of reflections on grief, trauma, loss, and healing by our Community Navigator, Callie Greer. Callie is a powerful voice for survivors in Alabama. Based on her own experiences losing two children, working through grief, finding forgiveness, and passing on her life’s lessons […]

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Alabama Prison Healthcare Faces Spiraling Costs and Grim Uncertainty. A Smarter Way Forward is Within Our Grasp.

By Eddie Burkhalter, Appleseed Researcher James Jones was hurting long before YesCare, the company contracted to provide medical care for those in Alabama prisons, diagnosed him with prostate cancer.  After Appleseed succeeded in getting Mr. Jones, now 78, released from prison in December 2024 and his treatments began outside of prison fences, his life and […]

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Alabama Appleseed Applauds Agreement for a Prison Oversight Pilot Program

Years of relentless advocacy by families of incarcerated Alabamians has resulted in a new prison oversight pilot program to create transparency and accountability at the Alabama Department of Corrections. Sen. Larry Stutts, R-Tuscumbia, who sponsored SB 316, the prison oversight bill, announced this development Wednesday on the Senate Floor. Stutts and Senate Pro Tem, Garlan […]

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SB 316, Alabama’s Prison Oversight Bill, Has Been Filed. Now Let’s Get It Passed.

More oversight, transparency, and accountability could be coming to the Alabama Department of Corrections under SB 316, filed last week by Sen. Larry Stutts, R-Tuscumbia. This bill is the result of years of investigations, litigation, and escalating prison expenditures that have failed to alleviate extreme violence, dysfunction, and the highest prison death rates in the […]