


At age 70, Willie Ingram is free after spending four decades in prison for a $20 robbery
Alabama prisons, Carla Crowder, Habitual Felony Offender Actby Carla Crowder, Executive Director
Willie Ingram, who served 39 years in prison after being convicted of a $20 robbery while armed with a pocketknife, celebrated his first Christmas and New Year’s Day as a free man.
Mr. Ingram…

Talking Trash: Why is the tiny Alabama city of Valley arresting people for unpaid trash bills?
Eddie Burkhalter, Fines and Fees, Leah Nelson, NewsBy Eddie Burkhalter and Leah Nelson
Public outcry over the arrest of an 82-year-old Valley woman for $77 in unpaid garbage bills was swift, but records show the city has for decades arrested people over unpaid trash bills.
Martha…

Looking past the political ads and sensational headlines, the surprising truth about crime rates
Eddie Burkhalter, NewsBy Eddie Burkhalter, Appleseed Researcher
Alabamians are faced with competing narratives regarding crime and punishment. On one hand, Alabama’s prison system is brutal, broken, and fails to rehabilitate. On the other hand, some…

Welcome Extern Erin Nicole Smith!
Intern, News
My name is Erin Nicole Smith and I am humbled to work at Alabama Appleseed as a Policy Extern. I am currently a 2L at The University of Alabama School of Law and am seeking opportunities to embrace social justice activism. I have a bachelor’s…

Alabama man incarcerated for minor offenses is beaten by an ADOC officer; the assault is captured on video
NewsBy Eddie Burkhalter
An Alabama correctional officer, caught on video beating an incarcerated man on a prison rooftop last week, has been placed on mandatory leave.
The violence caught on camera and shared widely on social media…
Latest News
- New Data Tool from Council of State Governments Should Help Guide Criminal Justice Decisions January 27, 2023
- Another free man, safe from the chaos of Alabama’s violent prisons. January 25, 2023
- Reflections on Dr. King’s Beloved Community: Onward Towards a Brighter Future January 13, 2023
- 266 lives lost in state government custody January 6, 2023
- At age 70, Willie Ingram is free after spending four decades in prison for a $20 robbery January 4, 2023
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New Data Tool from Council of State Governments Should Help Guide Criminal Justice Decisions
Eddie Burkhalter, NewsBy 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 […]
Another free man, safe from the chaos of Alabama’s violent prisons.
Alabama prisons, Carla Crowder, NewsA 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 […]
Reflections on Dr. King’s Beloved Community: Onward Towards a Brighter Future
Frederick SpightBy Frederick Spight, Policy Director “Let us fight passionately and unrelenting for the goals of justice and peace, but let’s be sure that our hands are clean in this struggle. Let us never fight with falsehood and violence and hate and malice, but always fight with love…” Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke these words […]