Alabama Appleseed Applauds Agreement for a Prison Oversight Pilot Program

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Years of relentless advocacy by families of incarcerated Alabamians has resulted in a new prison oversight pilot program to create transparency and accountability at the Alabama Department of Corrections.

Families of incarcerated Alabamians celebrate their role in securing an agreement for enhanced prison oversight in the Alabama Senate. From left, Sylvia Wright, Cindy Hamilton, Beth Smith, Tim Mathis, and Shantelle Quinley

Sen. Larry Stutts, R-Tuscumbia, who sponsored SB 316, the prison oversight bill, announced this development Wednesday on the Senate Floor. Stutts and Senate Pro Tem, Garlan Gudger, R-Cullman, acknowledged the contributions of a small group of parents, who were present in the Gallery. These families have faithfully pursued prison reform and safer conditions across ADOC by advocating at the State House, collecting photos and videos of horrific violence, and sharing their findings through mass emails. 

“We’re exponentially further along because of you,” Sen. Gudger told the families.

The agreement hammered out this week draws on elements of SB 316 by creating a process where certain employees at the Office of the Examiners of Public Accounts will visit selected prisons for inspections at any time (“golden key access”), collect and report data that’s made available to the public, and provide recommendations for improvement. 

“I feel like we’ve arrived at a really good position that is going to make a difference with the Department of Corrections in the coming years,” Sen. Stutts said. 

Appleseed’s Elaine Burdeshaw and advocates for prison oversight celebrate at the Alabama Statehouse.

Appleseed initially developed a prison oversight bill in 2024, which helped lead to the passage of SB 322, creating ADOC’s constituent services unit. Appleseed revisited the oversight bill this year and in collaboration with impacted families has been sharing data and stories of continued violence and dysfunction with the ADOC. “We are just moms and dads, regular people who experienced the reality of this system personally and could not unhear or unsee what’s happening inside,” said Cindy Hamilton, of Tuscaloosa, one of the group’s leaders.

The Oscar-nominated documentary, The Alabama Solution, illuminated the depth of the crisis for new audiences, spurring additional advocacy through the NoMore campaign. Additional support for oversight was provided by the national organization FAMM.

Supporters of prison oversight, including Appleseed’s Policy and Advocacy Director Elaine Burdeshaw, gathered at the Alabama Statehouse for a hearing.

“The newly announced pilot program to create more outside oversight of the Department of Corrections is positive movement that we are proud of. We believe this program will help bring some sunshine to a department that has long been shrouded in darkness, creating more transparency for the legislature, public, and families,” said Elaine Burdeshaw, Appleseed’s Policy and Advocacy Director. “We are grateful to Sen. Stutts, Pro Tem Gudger, and all the state departments who came to the table to make this possible. Most of all, we are grateful to the families and currently and formerly incarcerated people who continue to inform both our work on this issue and the solutions that will address it. As Pro Tem Gudger said, we wouldn’t be where we are now without them.”

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SB 316, Alabama’s Prison Oversight Bill, Has Been Filed. Now Let’s Get It Passed.

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More oversight, transparency, and accountability could be coming to the Alabama Department of Corrections under SB 316, filed last week by Sen. Larry Stutts, R-Tuscumbia.

Sen. Larry Stutts, R-Tuscumbia

This bill is the result of years of investigations, litigation, and escalating prison expenditures that have failed to alleviate extreme violence, dysfunction, and the highest prison death rates in the country.  It comes as families of incarcerated Alabamians have increased their advocacy and outreach to elected leaders.

Core components of SB 316:

  • Increases the responsibilities and authority of the position within the Department of Examiners of Public Accounts that was created by Sen. Chambliss’s SB322 in 2024 to serve the Joint Prison Oversight Committee– naming it the Prison Oversight Coordinator.
    • Allows the Prison Oversight Coordinator to visit any DOC facility for inspections at any time (“golden key access”), collect and report data that’s made available to the public, and provide recommendations for improvement, and gives them authority to investigate complaints from incarcerated people, their families, and correctional staff. 
  • Creates a Corrections Oversight Board.
    • Made of lawmakers, medical and mental health professionals, formerly incarcerated people, family members of incarcerated people, and more. Tasked with holding at least one public hearing a year and reviewing the data, inspections and recommendations provided by the Examiners employee. 
  • Removes investigation authority from the Department of Correction’s Law Enforcement Services Division and places it with the State Bureau of Investigations.
    • There have been documented issues with investigations within DOC facilities. Placing that authority with the State Bureau of Investigations provides a more transparent and independent process. 
  • Provides one special prosecutor to each DA’s office with a major DOC facility in their district.

All prison-related criminal cases are referred to the local DA’s office, but these offices are overwhelmed by the large numbers of cases coming in and unable to prioritize them. Providing a special prosecutor to each office with a major facility in its district will help provide the needed resources and capacity to ensure crimes happening inside DOC facilities, by officers and incarcerated people alike, are handled appropriately. 

This legislation comes seven years in a crisis first identified by the U.S. Department of Justice.

In 2019, DOJ declared Alabama’s prisons for men unconstitutional. More than 1,500 Alabamians in prison have died since then. Meanwhile, the state has spent more than $5 billion on the prison system in the last five years – more than we’ve spent on public health, mental health, and child services combined. These costly prisons remain the deadliest in America.

On Ash Wednesday, Alabamians gathered on the Capitol Steps to remember those who died in state prison custody. Photo by Bernard Troncale

  • Alabama’s prison mortality rate has been far higher than any other state in the nation for at least 2 years in a row. In 2023 and 2024, Alabama’s death rate was more than 100 deaths per 100,000 people. No other state comes close. 

The crisis at DOC is acute, and past efforts to improve prison culture and conditions have yet to produce noticeable positive outcomes. 

  • Increased officer pay has brought in new officers– but significant numbers of current officers have been fired due to misconduct or criminal charges. Many more have serious documented allegations of misconduct, but the culture of ADOC and bureaucratic impediments restrict the ability for them to be disciplined or removed. The staff vacancy rate remains above 50%. 
  • Efforts to increase programming and positive culture, like the creation of educational incentive time credits– an effort led by Sen. Chambliss, the Chair of the Joint Prison Oversight Committee– have not been implemented because of the dysfunction. 
  • Even the costly construction of new prisons, despite the benefits that do exist, will not solve the underlying culture.

While many are aware of severe problems that exist at ADOC, increased transparency is necessary to weed out the roots of the dysfunction – where exactly are the problems coming from and how have they persisted, and even increased, despite the State being on notice from federal authorities for more than 6 years. With an ongoing crisis in Alabama’s prisons, there is no indication that change can or will happen on its own, regardless of leadership’s intentions.

While passing this form of oversight legislation now would be more responsive in nature, it would eventually act as a prevention mechanism— to avoid poor conditions and lawsuits, and keep us from ever getting to this point in the first place. Read more from bill sponsor Sen. Larry Stutts here.

Appleseed encourages Alabamians to reach out to their state legislators and express support for SB 316. Tell them:

As your constituent, I hope you will consider this issue– what’s at stake for incarcerated people and their families, correctional officers, our state budgets, and public safety– and encourage you to support Sen. Stutts’ legislation when you have the opportunity.

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Appleseed’s Callie Greer receives Lifetime Achievement Award from Crime Survivors Speak

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Team Appleseed and the incredible Callie Greer were honored this week in Montgomery by Crime Survivors Speak, a network of crime survivors who create healing communities, develop leaders, and drive policies that make everyone safer.  The group held a 200-person strong rally and march in Montgomery on Wednesday.

Appleseed’s Callie Greer, honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award by Crime Survivors Speak

Fore more than a decade, Callie has led community healing events, helped advocate for improved policies around crime victim compensation, and used her voice and influence across Selma and Montgomery to give a voice to survivors of violence.

Callie as she receives her lifetime achievement award. Photo by James Gilbert

Crime Survivors Speak announced the following:
The Crime Survivors Speak Lifetime Achievement Award honors an extraordinary individual whose lifelong dedication has transformed personal experience into lasting change for survivors and families impacted by violence. This award recognizes decades of advocacy, leadership, and unwavering commitment to advancing healing, expanding access to victim compensation, and strengthening communities. Through courage, resilience, and service, this honoree has helped shape a more just and survivor-centered vision of safety for generations to come. We’re honored to present the Crime Survivors Speak Lifetime Achievement Award to Callie Greer.
The Crime Survivors Speak Community Partnership Recognition Award is presented to Alabama Appleseed in appreciation of your partnership and leadership in organizing Survivors Speak Alabama and in supporting families impacted by violence.
The Crime Survivors Speak Community Partnership Recognition Award is presented to MAAVIS in appreciation of your partnership and leadership in organizing Survivors Speak Alabama and in supporting families impacted by violence.
Callie Greer, Appleseed’s Community Navigator for the last three years, is a veteran community organizer and advocate for better, safer, healthier communities in Alabama. After losing her son, Mercury Colley, to violence and her daughter, Venus Colley, to cancer, Callie has used her powerful story and voice to inspire others. She reminds us all, “Don’t waste your pain, turn it into something terribly beautiful.”
Congratulations, Callie!
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Chronicle of Philanthropy calls Appleseed “one of the South’s most unexpectedly effective advocacy groups.”

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Alabama Appleseed has been featured in the prestigious Chronicle of Philanthropy!

Here’s what they’re saying:

“In a state dominated by a Republican supermajority and long resistant to criminal-justice reform, Alabama Appleseed has become one of the South’s most unexpectedly effective advocacy groups.”

The article traces Appleseed’s leap into legal and reentry services, beginning with the case of Alvin Kennard, our first client freed from a life without parole sentence.

“When Carla Crowder walked into a Jefferson County courtroom in August 2019, she didn’t expect to change the direction of her small nonprofit, the Alabama Appleseed Center for Law and Justice. She was there for one man: 58-year-old Alvin Kennard, who had spent 36 years behind bars for stealing $50.75 from a bakery in 1983 at age 22. His three earlier felonies — burglaries he committed at age 18 — meant he was sentenced under Alabama’s notoriously harsh “three-strikes” law, which mandates life without parole even for a low-level offense in which no one is physically harmed.

Crowder’s group hadn’t taken on individual clients before. The tiny policy and advocacy shop she had joined just months earlier was built to study and reform the state’s criminal-justice system, often through data-driven reports. But when a judge asked her to represent Kennard, she agreed — and when he was released, the story ricocheted nationally. That moment reshaped the organization’s sense of what was possible.”

We are so grateful for our funding partners at the National Football League who invested in this work early on, and now more than 30 Alabamians are freed from draconian sentences.

A group of Appleseed’s clients, all of whom served decades in life sentences without parole in Alabama prisons, enjoy a day in a Birmingham park following a birthday celebration for John Coleman. From left are Larry Garrett, Ronald McKeithen, Robert Cheeks, Lee Davis, John Coleman, and Willie Ingram. Photo by Bernard Troncale

The story goes on:

“Crowder used the funds to hire a newly minted lawyer, and together they began combing through spreadsheets and legal files. Their next case was Ronald McKeithen, who had served 37 years for a robbery he committed at age 21. After his release, he joined Appleseed’s staff and remains a core part of its re-entry team.

As more people were freed, more letters poured in from others seeking help. “Nobody else was doing these kinds of cases anymore,” Crowder said. “By taking individual cases, we’re both filling such a huge gap in legal services and learning about the brokenness of the system from their stories.”

Read the full story: How Unlikely Allies Help One Small Nonprofit Get Results in a Deep Red State

 

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SB254, a bill to bring fairness to parole revocations, filed in the Alabama Senate

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An Appleseed-supported bill that would bring more fairness to the parole revocation process and help prevent unnecessary revocations that do not contribute to public safety has been filed in the Alabama Legislature.

SB254, sponsored by Sen. Sam Givhan, R-Huntsville, would give the parole board greater discretion when someone on parole is arrested for a minor offense or when they have committed technical violations. Current law mandates revocations in many of these kinds of cases. The rigidity of the existing statute has resulted in people with long histories of employment and compliance being returned to Alabama’s crowded and violent prisons unnecessarily. 

SB254 was developed after years of research and communication with incarcerated Alabamians. Appleseed shared some of these stories in our Taking a Life report, which documented people across the state who were living successful lives and meaningfully contributing to the workforce, then sent back to prison on a parole revocation despite having no new convictions.   

            This common sense bill:  

  • Ensures the parole board is able to consider all the facts when someone on parole has been charged with a new offense, but not yet convicted, to determine whether they are satisfied that the individual seems to have committed the offense.
  • Ensures people with certain underlying offenses who have been arrested for more serious crimes are still automatically revoked, but allows the board discretion when those same individuals are arrested on more minor charges or when they have committed a technical parole violation. 
  • If an individual’s parole has been revoked for a new charge and that charge is later dismissed or worked down to something more minor, the board may automatically reinstate parole or bring the individual back before them within 90 days for a review. 

Among the people impacted by this bill are Archie Hamlett and Vinson French, both men in their 50s, who were incarcerated under life sentences for nonviolent crimes, then eventually released on parole. They spent years working and contributing to their communities, then were arrested on new charges that never resulted in convictions..

Archie Hamlett

Mr. Hamlett now, following revocation

Archie Hamlett Truck

Archie Hamlett at his home in Hazel Green before his parole was revoked last year.

Mr. Hamlett, who is 53, is currently trying to manage his trucking company, Hamlett Logistics, from Easterling Correctional Facility. He was paroled from prison, where he served decades on a marijuana trafficking conviction, and was a successful business owner and homeowner. Last January, Madison County deputies pulled him over as he drove home on icy roads after suspecting he was driving under the influence. While he was detained on the side of the road, he requested to retrieve a urinal from his truck; Mr. Hamlett has a documented medical condition. The deputies declined that request, and he urinated beside his truck. He was charged with public lewdness, a misdemeanor that was later nolle prossed on a motion by the state, meaning they declined to prosecute the case, noting that he was already returning to prison through mandatory parole revocation. SB254 would have provided the parole board discretion to consider all of the circumstances involved in his arrest, including his medical condition, the minor nature of the public lewdness charge, the behavior that contributed to that charge, and any recommendations from his parole officer. When the charges were nolle prossed by the state, Archie’s revocation would have been revisited by the board.

Mr. French, who is 59, has not committed a new felony in 35 years. While at work in 2020, he was charged with theft because he was sitting in a truck near a trailer filled with stolen scaffolding. A Montgomery County District Court Judge quickly dismissed the charges for lack of probable cause and ordered him released. However, his parole had already been revoked and he was transported back to prison. For more on the frustrating chain of events that have left Mr. French languishing in prison as he nears age 60, please read our report, Taking a Life: With life sentences, the State of Alabama controls thousands of rehabilitated individuals long past the point of danger, until death. But why? 

 

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Another deadly year in Alabama prisons claims 202 lives

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By Eddie Burkhalter, Appleseed Researcher

More than six years after the State of Alabama was put on notice that its violent and dangerous prisons violate the United States Constitution, the death toll inside state prisons was nearly three times the national average.

At least 202 people died inside Alabama prisons in 2025, Alabama Appleseed discovered through a records request to the Alabama Department of Corrections (ADOC).  Alabama’s prisoner mortality rate in 2025 was 957 deaths per 100,000 people, compared with a national average across state prisons of 330 deaths per 100,000, according to the U.S. Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Statistics.

That was a drop from the 277 deaths in Alabama prisons in 2024, following another slight decline from the record high 327 in 2023. While the decline can be considered progress, the rate of deaths across Alabama prisons dramatically exceeds the death toll in other state prison systems, and continues to be high despite multiple commissions, committees, hearings, lawsuits, and investigative reports. 

Tim Mathis speaks before the Legislature’s Joint Prison Oversight Committee. Mr. Mathis is one of hundreds of Alabama parents whose children have died in state custody.

The extraordinary loss of life inside prisons run by the largest law enforcement agency in the state has left families devastated and searching for answers. Often families are notified of these deaths by a warden who shares little detail about how the person died. That’s in part because UAB Hospital terminated its longstanding agreement with ADOC to conduct autopsies and/or toxicology screens on suspected natural and overdose deaths on April 22, 2024.

Therefore, while we know how many people died, getting an official account for how they died is more difficult. A 2021 state law requires the department to publish a quarterly report containing statistical data on the number, manner, and cause of inmate deaths occurring in prisons “including the results of any autopsy provided to the department by a third party.” ADOC began including a section labeled “Final autopsy results” in those reports. However, without stating a reason, the department removed that section from the reports beginning with the last quarterly report in 2022, despite the reports still containing the phrase that “the final autopsy results reflect the opinion of the medical examiner conducting the autopsy of the final cause of death.” 

The lack of transparency surrounding these deaths is all the more alarming given ADOC and the state’s years-long legal battle over the unconstitutional treatment of incarcerated men. The U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division in 2019 released its first report detailing the out-of-control prisons for men in Alabama, The federal government in December 2020 sued the state and ADOC alleging widespread use of force, corruption, rampant drugs and contraband, and the inability of ADOC to keep men safe from sexual and physical violence and death.  

More than 1,500 Alabamians have died in state prison custody since Alabama’s elected officials were put on notice by the federal government that state prisons were plagued by mismanagement, corruption, understaffing, nonexistent investigations, and violence, including homicides and sexual assaults.

Alabama Appleseed’s own project to track and publish state prison deaths began in 2024 and the initial batch of data we have collected has been included in UCLA Law’s data. (Individual-level data on Alabama prison deaths in 2024 can be found by visiting UCLA Law’s Github site and navigating to the raw data for Alabama. The project will soon add Appleseed’s 2022 data to the site.)

Despite the lack of transparency surrounding the causes of death, through Appleseed’s own tracking of these deaths, from news accounts and a review of a list kept by a group of advocates, Appleseed believes at least seven people died as a result of homicides inside state prisons in 2025. That’s only one less than were killed in 2024. In 2023, the record high year of deaths, there were 14 homicides in Alabama prisons.  

Among those 2025 deaths were Michael Thomas Jones, 47, who died on February 6 after a previous assault at Limestone prison, and Cordel Ladon Battle, 30, died from a stabbing at Donaldson prison on Feb. 11. 

Montavius Banks, 31, died on June 6 after an assault at Limestone prison. Antwion Webb, 45,  died on Oct. 13 after an assault at Donaldson prison. Kendall Stone Kent, 25, died on Oct. 21 after being assaulted on Oct. 7 at Easterling prison. 

Mikheal Christopher Gilliam died on Oct. 30 following a stabbing at Elmore prison. Eric Dewayne Sanders died on Dec. 9 after being assaulted at Elmore prison. 

So far in 2026 there have been at least 12 deaths in Alabama prisons, according to the list kept by the group of advocates. Appleseed is working to confirm those deaths. 

 

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Alabama mother fights for better quality of life for son who returned from prison with severe brain injury

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By Eddie Burkhalter, Appleseed Researcher

William Thomas was found hanging inside his segregation cell at St. Clair Correctional Facility on Aug. 7, 2023. Although he lived, he’s still fighting to get his life back from the severe brain injury that has robbed him of his speech and mobility. 

Though William eventually was released from the hospital through a medical furlough and returned to his parents’ Huntsville home, he needs constant care and is unable to stand or fully communicate. His condition has thrust the Thomases into an ever-expanding community of families across Alabama with loved ones who emerged from state prison custody in previously unimaginable conditions: debilitating injuries, post-traumatic stress disorder, even coma. 

It was another incarcerated person, not prison staff, who called Tanisha Thomas, William’s mother, and told her that her son had been found hanging from a light fixture in his cell. He had requested to be placed in a segregation cell to be safe from the physical abuse he was suffering, and to get away from the drug addictions fueled by the narcotics inside the prison, his mother said. The family believes that his hanging was either the result of hallucinations he may have been experiencing due to drug withdrawals or someone else may have tried to kill him. 

William Thomas before incarceration

At the time, the family drove to UAB Hospital in Birmingham and eventually was able to visit with William, who had been placed in a medically-induced coma. He was hooked to a ventilator. The family received very little information about her son from hospital staff, who were limited in what they could say by prison officials, she said. 

“Palliative care came out to me a few days later and tried to convince me to just make him comfortable, that he’s not going to be the same person. It’s not going to be a good ending. Don’t let him suffer,  and all that, and my religious belief is the complete opposite,” Mrs. Thomas said. “I’m not the giver, nor the taker, of life, so I wasn’t going to make that decision.” 

As her son began to improve, he was eventually taken off of the ventilator and breathing on his own.  “He opened his eyes on command. I told him, ‘Son, if you hear me, let me know you hear me. Just open your eyes.’ He opened his eyes,” she said. 

Tanisha Thomas comforts her son, William Thomas, who suffered severe injuries after being found hanging in his cell at St. Clair prison.

About a month after his injury, the family got a call at their Huntsville home from the hospital asking what they wanted done with his belongings. It was a confusing call, then they learned William was being sent back to the prison system where he nearly died. “Unbelievable. It was unbelievable,” Mrs. Thomas said.

His condition deteriorated once back in St. Clair prison’s infirmary. They’d visit him every Saturday that visitations were held. “Every time we saw him, he was getting worse and worse. His arms were contracting. He started losing his fingernails. He was losing his hair. He wasn’t even 100 pounds,” Mrs. Thomas said. 

A social worker with YesCare, the medical provider under contract with the Alabama Department of Corrections, began the process of getting William released on a medical furlough, but that process was dragging. A correctional officer who knew someone connected to the nonprofit Redemption Earned suggested William might be a good candidate for release, and Redemption Earned reached out and took him on as a client. He was paroled in April 2024 and was sent to a Birmingham nursing home in May of that year. 

William Thomas with his father and his son. Multiple generations of the Thomas family provide support to William.

William just recently began receiving Medicaid, which only pays for some medical costs incurred up to three months prior, so Mrs. Thomas is still dealing with his medical bills, and because she has to care for him day and night, she’s unable to work. Her retired husband went back to work but has only been able to find a part-time job. It’s been difficult getting her son the kind of therapy she hopes will help him get more of his life back. 

The TIRR Memorial Hermann Hospital in Houston, Texas specializes in providing therapy for patients with catastrophic brain and spinal cord injuries. The family is raising funds to get him flown to the Texas hospital. 

“We know he won’t be the same, but we hope he gets a better quality of life,” Mrs. Thomas said. He is improving since he’s been home, she said. The two have worked out a way to communicate, and he’s able to move his arms and legs on command. 

“I try to ask him yes and no questions. So we’ve developed a process of where he blinks several times for yes and he doesn’t blink at all, or maybe once, for no. I’m a drill sergeant, and I told him, you know, I’m not gonna give up. We’re gonna keep going. We’re gonna keep going,” Mrs. Thomas said. She had advice for others who have loved ones inside an Alabama prison. 

“If they have a loved one in the prison system, no matter what their demons are, do not abandon them. I know most of the time the demons are drugs, and there is a major expense with that,” Mrs. Thomas said. “But don’t abandon them. They need a voice. They need an advocate to fight for them.”

William Thomas, pictured during healthier times, with his father and son.

William was incarcerated after a 2019 parole violation. His original conviction was for first degree-robbery in 2013, for which he was sentenced to 15 years. He would have been eligible for parole consideration in June 2025, a year and nine months after he was found in his cell. 

There were times while her son was incarcerated that she’d call the prison seeking a welfare check on William, only to later learn the officers who did the check mistreated him for having to conduct the check, she said. Today, the struggle for her is to try and care for him as best she can. Once a gifted athlete who played football and baseball, he’s now fighting to regain basic functions. “I just wake up every day and I know my son needs me. I’m learning how to do all of this feeding tubes and catheter cleaning. I’m learning how to provide medication. Love is driving me,” she said. 

 

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Amid overdose crisis in Alabama prisons, drug exposure sidelines two corrections officers

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By Eddie Burkhalter, Appleseed Researcher

Two officers at St. Clair Correctional Facility were treated for exposure to an unidentified substance on November 29, requiring both to be given the life-saving NARCAN treatment and one of those officers to be hospitalized, the Alabama Department of Corrections (ADOC) confirmed for Appleseed. 

It’s unclear from ADOC’s response what the substance was, but according to information from a person serving inside the prison the officers were exposed to fentanyl. 

The incident highlights the wide prevalence of drugs inside Alabama prisons, which in 2023 had an overdose mortality rate 20 times the national average across all state prisons in 2019, the last year for which the federal government has made that data available. The prison system’s overall mortality rate in 2024 was higher than that in any other state, and was nearly double that of the next highest state. 

The outside of St. Clair Correctional Facility

An ADOC spokeswoman confirmed to Appleseed this week that the officers were searching an incarcerated man when they came into contact with the substance. 

“They were escorted to the Health Care Unit where NARCAN was administered. One officer was sent home to rest following the incident. The other officer was transported to an area hospital for further treatment and was later discharged. Both officers are recovered and back at full duty,” ADOC spokeswoman Kelly Betts said. 

Exposure to illicit drugs inside Alabama prisons is a real and life-threatening matter for the staff who work inside the dangerously understaffed prisons, and yet it’s important to note that Illicit drugs are most often brought in and sold by ADOC  staff themselves, as publicized arrests and interviews with incarcerated people show. While ADOC has made increasing efforts in recent months to catch and charge these employees, drugs and the overdose deaths persist.

Records requests show 366 ADOC staff were fired between 2018 to 2023, and 134 were charged with work-related crimes, ranging from smuggling contraband to assault and murder.

Appleseed’s review of court records for the 169 Alabama Department of Corrections employees arrested between January 2020 and June 2025 statewide suggest that relatively few officers convicted of crimes serve prison sentences, with most cases instead resulting in suspended sentences, probation or pre-trial diversion. It’s important to note, however, that in misdemeanor cases for first-time offenders, such sentences would not be uncommon, and among the 79 felony cases Appleseed reviewed, several were prosecuted federally and did receive prison time.

Two men died of suspected drug overdoses at St. Clair on July 30. The next day, ADOC Lieutenant Calvin Bush was arrested and charged with trafficking fentanyl and marijuana, and promoting prison contraband. Investigators found a large amount of drugs and contraband in a filing cabinet inside the prison Bush had control of, and at a home in Odenville, where Bush lives, according to court records.

“During the search, agents recovered a significant amount of drugs and contraband, including 4,020 grams of methamphetamine, 350 grams of promethazine liquid, 340 grams of synthetic cannabinoid, nine oxycodone pills, 326 grams of sprayed paper, 156 cell phones, two cellular hotspots, 8,980 grams of marijuana, 100 grams of crack cocaine, 16 grams of cocaine powder, and 610 grams of flakka precursor powder. Additionally, a related search yielded 2.5 pounds of marijuana and 60 grams of methamphetamine,” ADOC told Appleseed in a previous statement.

Court records show that St. Clair County District Judge Brandi Hufford in September agreed to a joint motion from Bush’s defense attorney and the prosecutor to push back Bush’s preliminary hearing until Nov. 4, 2025, “to allow the investigation results to continue by agreement of both parties.” The judge approved a subsequent joint motion on November 4 and moved that hearing date to March 3, 2026. 

 

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James “Honkytonk” Jones rises from St. Clair prison to the stage at Appleseed’s Celebrate Justice event

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James Jones, who was once condemned to die in an Alabama prison, took the stage at the Woodlawn Theatre and sang a love song in front of a crowd of mostly strangers last Thursday night. 

It was Appleseed’s annual Celebrate Justice event, which brought together 200 Alabamians committed to Appleseed’s mission and eager to connect with like-minded people in our community. 

James Jones performs alongside Ritch Henderson and Kathleen Henderson. Mr. Jones spent 43 years in prison following a robbery conviction in which no one was injured. Appleseed secured his release in December 2024.

Months ago, once we realized that James’ dream of recording music was becoming a reality, we hatched an idea that he could perform at Celebrate Justice. We were so confident, we sent invitations to supporters announcing the plan. But Mr. Jones, who is 78, is not just recovering from 43 years in prison, he’s fighting cancer and undergoing regular chemotherapy treatments that sap his energy. So we hedged our bets and noted in the promotional materials that “with a little luck,” Mr. Jones would be joining our musicians on stage.

James Jones singing lyrics he composed while incarcerated on a life without parole sentence

Thankfully, two committed people held fast to Mr. Jones’ dream, guided him through the artful process of putting his lyrics to music, and surrounded him with support – Appleseed case manager Kathleen Henderson, and her son, Americana artist Ritch Henderson. For months they practiced, meeting up in Ritch’s favorite spots in and around the Bankhead National Forest and at collaborator Brett Robinson’s, Alabama Sound Company in Montgomery. They all believed in Mr. Jones. After all, his nickname is Honkytonk.

For his song, Ritch took the lead, Kathleen sang harmony, and Mr. Jones’ joined in for the chorus.

We made a promise, till death do us part

You signed with your love and I signed with my heart,

Together, forever I thought we’d always be.

Tonight you’re in Texas and I’m in Tennessee.

  

Grief like a mountain, and unchanging wind.

I’ll come to Austin, and we’ll try again.

Love is a garden you simply must tend.

I’ll do anything to hold you just once more my friend.

Imagine writing these lines while trapped in prison, with no reasonable hope of ever being free. And yet, people who are thrown away in prison for sentences of life without parole manage to do all manner of hopeful things: join book clubs, learn useful trades, mentor others, create art and poetry. Appleseed has been fortunate to come to know dozens of individuals once thrown away in prison, and through our legal work and reentry support they are now free and living meaningful lives.

We believe they are worthy of celebration. Based on the response last Thursday night, plenty of our neighbors do as well. 

Appleseed clients, all who were once condemned to die in prison, joined our team at Celebrate Justice.

Headliner Alvin Youngblood Hart, a Grammy-winning artist, performed for the packed Woodlawn Theatre.

The generosity of Celebrate Justice supporters and sponsors ensures that Team Appleseed will continue to represent incarcerated people with extreme sentences who deserve another chance, and to provide them with the support they need once released. We are grateful for a community that believes in our work and never fails to fill the room at our events. 

 

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Want to Support Prison Reform in Alabama? Don’t Miss Celebrate Justice 2025!

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Ready to support much needed prison reform in Alabama and enjoy a joyous, musical event featuring Grammy-winning bluesman Alvin Youngblood Hart? Of course you are!

Plans for Appleseed’s annual fundraiser are in full swing. This year’s celebration centers around creating community, hope, and joy through music.

This event will bring together three amazing artists to share their talents in a casual, intimate setting. The evening will feature Shoals singer-songwriter McKenzie Lockhart, Grammy winner Alvin Youngblood Hart, and Alabama Americana singer Ritch Henderson.

Ritch and beloved Appleseed client James Jones, who is 78, are currently working on a musical collaboration. Though fighting cancer, James is determined to make the most of his freedom after 43 years of incarceration.  With a little luck, we’ll be able to hear this song live for the first time!

Celebrate Justice provides needed support for Appleseed’s legislative proposals to help tackle the human rights crisis in Alabama prisons. It takes resources to create change! Support also provides housing, medical care and case management to dozens of formerly incarcerated Alabamians released through Appleseed’s legal work. (Plus you’ll get to meet these folks at the event!)

Date: Thursday, November 6, 2025.

Time: Doors at 5:30, program running from 6:30-8:30 p.m.

Location: The Woodlawn Theatre, 5503 1st Avenue North, Birmingham, AL, 35212

Come early to relax, mingle with Appleseed staff, and clients, and grab a drink and some wings, tacos, and quesadillas.

Tickets are still available at https://celebratejustice.swell.gives. If you would like to join us but are unable to purchase a ticket, please email keely.sutton@alabamaappleseed.org.

You’ll hear stories of Appleseed’s life-changing legal and reentry work, learn about our ongoing advocacy efforts, and hear about innovative research and reform happening right here in Alabama. 

The evening promises to be full of good music, good drinks, good food, and the hopeful vibes we all crave. We hope to see you there!

Musician Ritch Henderson and Appleseed client James Jones work on their collaboration, assisted by studio owner Brett Robinson.

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