Entries by Carla Crowder

Ronnie Peoples is free! Sentenced to life without parole for offenses with no physical injury, Mr. Peoples was respected and beloved at St. Clair prison. But it took a cancer diagnosis for him to be released.

By Eddie Burkhalter, Appleseed Research Ronnie Peoples stood alongside Bradley Black in St. Clair Correctional Facility and the two men hugged before Mr. Peoples walked outside as a free man for the first time in 33 years.  Mr. Black, a welding instructor at the prison’s trade school, worked for decades alongside Mr. Peoples, who kept […]

December 9, 2024 /0 Comments/by

Joshua Hamer, incarcerated on a probation violation for nonviolent crimes, is beaten to death in prison.

By Eddie Burkhalter, Appleseed Researcher After he was beaten on Nov. 6th, Joshua Hamer was placed back into his bunk at Bibb Correctional Facility unconscious, and wasn’t found until the next day. He never regained consciousness and died 16 days later.  Mr. Hamer, who was 41, was imprisoned on a probation violation stemming from an […]

December 5, 2024 /0 Comments/by

Happy 25th Anniversary Alabama Appleseed!

This year, Appleseed’s annual Celebrate Justice event looked back on 25 years of advocacy for marginalized and vulnerable Alabamians. We celebrated alongside longtime supporters, founding board members, elected officials, retired staff, and our beaming formerly incarcerated clients, who vibrantly shared their stories with the crowd.  In preparation for our 25th Anniversary, we combed the archives, […]

November 11, 2024 /0 Comments/by

After investigation, no criminal charges in the torture and homicide of Daniel Williams at Staton prison.

By Eddie Burkhalter, Appleseed Researcher Daniel Terry Williams, 22, was likely smothered to death a year ago on Saturday, according to the state’s chief medical examiner, and there was evidence on his body that corroborate what witnesses have said was his kidnapping and torture over a period of several days inside Staton Correctional Facility. He […]

November 8, 2024 /0 Comments/by

Charles Craig was incarcerated 19 years for a victimless crime.

“I hope my case will open up people’s eyes that there’s something wrong with the judicial system. It’s broken and it’s unfair.” by Carla Crowder, Executive Director and Becca Cardin, Appleseed attorney In 2006, Charles Craig was sentenced to life in prison when prosecutors invoked Alabama’s Habitual Felony Offender Act following his drug conviction. He […]

September 18, 2024 /0 Comments/by

Fentanyl is killing people inside Alabama’s largest, most expensive law enforcement agency – the Alabama Department of Corrections

by Eddie Burkhalter, Appleseed Researcher The lives of two young men, both 31, who died 23 days apart this year in separate Alabama prisons, were ended largely by the same drug, according to state medical examiners.  Overdose deaths, and especially those deaths known or suspected of being caused by fentanyl, have soared in the state’s […]

August 14, 2024 /0 Comments/by

Less than one year into a short prison sentence, Wesley Abernathy is gone. He was only 31.

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 […]

July 23, 2024 /0 Comments/by
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Welcome Summer Intern Katia Apedoh

“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 […]

July 19, 2024 /0 Comments/by

In an overcrowded prison dorm with no correctional officers present, a beloved brother and son is killed, one of four deaths at Donaldson prison in three days.

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 […]

July 2, 2024 /0 Comments/by