By Eddie Burkhalter, Appleseed Researcher Like many Alabama families, Wesley Abernathy’s mother, wife, and sister paid thousands of dollars in extortion payments hoping the money would keep him alive during his short sentence in an Alabama prison. “We have gotten threats from other inmates in there. I was suckered into paying money,” his sister, Darby […]
“Alabama Appleseed is a natural bridge between the diversity, equity, and inclusion work that I have done in high school and what I plan to do in college. I am so grateful to Appleseed for the opportunity to learn about the problems that impact justice-involved people in Alabama and see what it means to be an […]
By Eddie Burkhalter, Appleseed Researcher Deandre Roney knew his life was in danger, so he asked officers at Donaldson Correctional Facility to move him, as did his family. A man had been chasing him with a knife for days, and had already stabbed him once, the blade breaking off inside of him, his family told […]
Chase Mathis was confined to a wheelchair when he went to prison. His mobility challenges meant he often did not have enough to eat and did not get his basic needs met. But in Alabama’s drug-infested prisons, lethal drugs are always available even when food is not. By Eddie Burkhalter, Appleseed Researcher Chase Mathis died […]
My name is London Breedlove and I am so excited for the opportunity I have been given to intern with Alabama Appleseed this summer! A Mississippi native, I was brought to Alabama on a tennis scholarship at the University of Montevallo. There I am a rising senior majoring in Political Science and minoring in prelaw. I […]
My name is Tayler Walton and I have the absolute privilege of working for Alabama Appleseed this summer as their legal intern. I am a rising 3L at Cumberland School of Law and I could not be more ecstatic to be working for an organization like Appleseed. I went into law school wanting to […]
Grieving family left without answers after Alabama’s scandal-plagued Department of Corrections fails to investigate the cause of incarcerated man’s death and suspends some autopsies By Eddie Burkhalter, Appleseed Researcher In the hours after Alonzo Nathaniel Williamson died after being found in respiratory distress at Limestone Correctional Facility on May 8th, the Alabama Department of Corrections (ADOC) […]
By Elaine Burdeshaw, Appleseed Policy Associate This session certainly came with highs and lows; we experienced great wins and disappointing losses. At the start of the session Appleseed aimed to address the excessive sentences of individuals serving life without the possibility of parole for crimes that involved no physical injury, the lack of state funding […]
By Carla Crowder, Executive Director Joseph Raines spent 43 years in Alabama’s prison system for a robbery conviction. At age 69, he was still working in St. Clair prison’s vehicle restoration plant, lifting heavy pieces of metal for $1 an hour when Appleseed took on his case. Like most of our clients, Mr. Raines was […]
Michael Schumacher was supposed to die in prison. Now he’s a husband doing yard work, a grandpa rocking his grandson, and a valued hospital employee. By Michael “Shoe” Schumacher Live from New Jersey, April 9, 2024 –It’s hard to believe that it’s been 3 years since my release from the hotel after 36 years of […]
Alabama Appleseed Center for Law & Justice
400 South Union Street, Suite 355
Montgomery, Alabama 36104
2 Office Park Circle, Suite 10
Birmingham, AL 35223
Phone: (205) 963-7999
admin@alabamaappleseed.org