Entries by Carla Crowder

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Quan Holt’s Good Samaritan actions cost him his left leg, his mobility, and his health. Alabama’s civil forfeiture laws cost him nearly everything else.

The former high school football star used marijuana to manage pain from a catastrophic accident. Did Alabama law enforcement charge him as a drug kingpin so the state could keep his car, cash, and other valuables? By Leah Nelson Leah.Nelson@alabamaappleseed.org PHENIX CITY, ALA. – Quandarius Holt must have thought that the worst things that could […]

February 21, 2021 by
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Appleseed’s Legislative Priorities 2021

By Alabama Appleseed Staff The 2021 Alabama Regular Session will begin on February 2, 2021. Below is a summary of key human rights and criminal justice issues we anticipate will be under active, serious deliberation by the legislature in 2021. To make our communities safer, reduce the burden on taxpayers, and begin to address the […]

February 1, 2021 by
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“I’m experiencing a rebirth, a second chance at life, and every day has been a blessing.”

By Ronald McKeithen, Appleseed guest blogger Birmingham, AL — Doubts of ever leaving prison had been embedded deep within me. I couldn’t shake them. At least not completely. Even after everything that I’d prayed for and dreamed of for decades had finally been granted: a dedicated legal team and a mountain of supporters that had […]

January 25, 2021 by
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Introducing Appleseed’s legal extern Allen Slater

By Allen Slater My name is Allen Slater, and I am honored to join Alabama Appleseed as a full-time extern. I admire this organization’s mission, methodology, and compassion, and I am thrilled to contribute to the team. I am also eternally grateful to all of the kind, intelligent people who have supported and encouraged me […]

January 14, 2021 by

Alabama Appleseed is hiring a communications and development associate

Alabama Appleseed is a non-profit, non-partisan 501(c)(3) organization founded in 1999 whose mission is to achieve justice and equity for all Alabamians. Alabama Appleseed conducts integrated culture and policy change campaigns to confront laws and policies that harm the poor and to remedy the root causes of poverty and injustice. Its campaigns use policy analysis, […]

January 11, 2021 by
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This Veteran’s Day, Sean Worsley is finally home with his wife. May Alabama learn from the mistake of imprisoning this decorated Iraq War hero in the name of “law and order.”

By Leah Nelson Leah.Nelson@alabamaappleseed.org ELMORE, ALA. (Nov. 9, 2020) – Sean Worsley finally walked through the gates of Staton Correctional Facility this morning and into the arms of his wife Eboni. It was a moment nearly 11 months in the making. Worsley is a disabled Black veteran who was awarded a Purple Heart in connection […]

November 9, 2020 by
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Human Rights Groups, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans, an Alabama Democratic Lawmaker, a GOP Operative, Corrections Professionals, a Retired Federal Magistrate Judge, and Cannabis Advocates Came Together to Stop a Disabled Black Veteran from Going to Prison. This is the Story of How We Failed.

By Leah Nelson leah.nelson@alabamaappleseed.org In August 2016, a disabled Black veteran named Sean Worsley brought his legally prescribed medical marijuana with him on a road trip from Arizona to North Carolina. On his way through Alabama, Worsley, who earned a Purple Heart in connection with injuries sustained during his 15 months disabling bombs and retrieving […]

September 4, 2020 by
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Black Girls Are More Harshly Punished within Alabama’s K-12 Public Schools

By Akiesha Anderson, Appleseed Policy Director Today, the Appleseed Network released its newest report, “Protecting Girls of Color 2020.” This report contains disturbing findings that show Black girls within Alabama’s K-12 public school system are disciplined more harshly than their white counterparts. Based on data from the U.S. Department of Education, in 2015-2016 (the most […]

September 2, 2020 by
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A New Job. A Christmas Party. His First-Ever Week of Paid Leave. Alvin Kennard, Once Sentenced to Die in Prison, Marks His First Year of Freedom.

By Carla Crowder, Executive Director Carla.Crowder@alabamaappleseed.org One year ago, Alvin Kennard stood in a Bessemer courtroom nervous and uncertain. Striped jailhouse scrubs swallowed his rail-thin, shivering frame. After 36 years in a sweltering, unairconditioned prison, the chilled air of Judge David Carpenter’s courtroom was a shock to his system. What came next was a shock […]

August 23, 2020 by