By Leah Nelson, Research Director from the Appleseed report Afterward On a rainy Thursday in early March, Alabama Appleseed sat down in the offices of the Hispanic Interest Coalition of Alabama (¡HICA!) with 11 women who were victims of violent crime. Over tacos, we asked them to take our survey and invited them to talk […]
By Eddie Burkhalter, Researcher from the Appleseed report Afterward Bryttian Linn’s mother, Jamie Linn, made the call to the sheriff’s office to protect her children. When the Calhoun County Sheriff’s Deputy arrived at their home, Jamie Linn hoped it would be the end of the death threats to her family from a man who said […]
By Leah Nelson, Research Director from the Appleseed report Afterward Summer Sturdivant, an activist and pastry chef from Selma, Ala., watched her little brother die. He lay in the street while the police captured the man who shot him. The ambulance made a wrong turn, doubled back, arrived when he was still alive but got […]
State leaders promised to find an Alabama Solution to the “deeply humiliating” federal findings. But 698 incarcerated people have since died in state prisons, a new $1 billion prison will not open until 2026, and the federal trial is scheduled for next year. By Eddie Burkhalter and Carla Crowder This week marks the fourth anniversary […]
John Coleman served 34 years for offenses involving no physical injury under Alabama’s Habitual Felony Offender Act. Now he’s free and experiencing kindness for the first time in way too long. By Carla Crowder, Executive Director “I’m 86 years old and all alone. Please don’t let me die in prison. I’m not ready to die […]
By Eddie Burkhalter, Appleseed Researcher Alabama prison deaths are again surging, after state prisons saw a record high year of deaths in 2022. At least eight men have died in Alabama prisons this month, following 12 deaths in February and 12 in January, although the actual numbers are likely higher. Those 32 deaths include three […]
By Frederick Spight, Policy Director and Elaine Burdeshaw, Policy Associate As we look forward to the start of the 2023 legislative session, and the beginning of the Quadrennium, Appleseed plans to bring forth several legislative priorities. As is our custom, these initiatives are based on evidence and research that will advance the goals of […]
By Eddie Burkhalter, Appleseed Researcher Politicians across Alabama expressed concern and outrage when victims were not notified in advance of planned releases of several hundred people from Alabama Department of Corrections custody last week. Those notifications didn’t happen because of underfunded, troubled victim notification systems and an unwillingness by an array of state leaders […]
By Eddie Burkhalter, Appleseed Researcher A recent report by the nonpartisan, nonprofit Council of State Governments (CSG) found that overall crime, including violent crime, across the U.S. and in Alabama, has been on the decline. The report’s findings undercut the pervasive narrative of surging crime used to frighten communities and support mass incarceration. But as […]
A bungled robbery in 1983 sent Lee Davis to prison on a life without parole sentence. Appleseed’s legal work brought him home. By Carla Crowder, Executive Director Lee Davis spent 39 years incarcerated for a robbery conviction in which no money was taken and no one was injured. At age 70, he is finally a […]
Alabama Appleseed Center for Law & Justice
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