Learn, Connect, Advocate — Appleseed’s Prison Reform Toolbox

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A resource for Alabamians to learn about the human rights crisis in Alabama state prisons, share their knowledge with others, and work for change

Since 2019, when the United States Department of Justice issued a 56-page report calling out unconstitutional violence, death, and corruption across the entire Alabama prison system for men, Alabama Appleseed has been dedicated to guiding communities across Alabama to a better understanding of the human rights crisis in our prisons. We do this by lifting up stories of individuals and families most harmed by this broken system, by researching and documenting evidence-based solutions and alternatives to needless incarceration, and by providing legal services that free older, rehabilitated Alabamians who then share their personal stories of hope and redemption. 

A crowded dorm in an Alabama prison

Appleseed shares our work widely across the state, connecting with faith groups, civic organizations, students, elected officials and everyday Alabamians who learn about this crisis and want to get involved. We have developed resources for advocates geared toward educating everyday Alabamians and empowering them to create change. 

In the six years since we embarked on these efforts there has been some progress. And for that we are grateful. But given the depth of the dysfunction within state prisons, the need for major systemic reform remains. As laid out below, elected officials vowed to address these brutal conditions back in 2019. Money has poured into the prison system, yet institutional corruption and senseless violence remain rampant. The documentary, The Alabama Solution, painfully exposes these wrenching conditions to a broader audience, demanding a bold response from our state.

Below is a list of research and resources for advocates across Alabama who wish to learn more about this pressing issue, get up to speed on the responses of our elected officials, and use that knowledge to get involved in crucial reform efforts, including holding these leaders accountable.

The Problem: “The combination of ADOC’s overcrowding and understaffing results in prisons that are inadequately supervised, with inappropriate and unsafe housing designations, creating an environment rife with violence, extortion, drugs, and weapons.” United States Department of Justice

The U.S. Department of Justice’s report in 2019 detailed how Alabama’s prisons for men were violating constitutional rights of the incarcerated by failing to protect them from prisoner-on-prisoner violence and sexual abuse. The DOJ’s subsequent follow-up report in 2020 noted systemic problems of unreported or underreported excessive use of force incidents, a failure to properly investigate these abuses and attempts by correctional officers and their supervisors to cover up these violations. 

Appleseed’s summary of the DOJ report highlights the inability of the Alabama Department of Corrections to protect incarcerated men from sexual and physical violence and the DOJ’s finding that Alabama prisons had a homicide rate eight times the national average at the time. Appleseed’s summary also makes clear that the DOJ’s report states new prisons alone won’t solve the crisis. 

The beating death of Steven Davis in October 2019 at Donaldson prison underscored the ADOC’s inability to control excessive force by correctional officers, even after being on notice of the federal investigation.

Sandy Ray, whose story is featured in “The Alabama Solution,” shows members of the Criminal Justice Study Group photos of her son Steven Davis as a vibrant young man, then after being beaten by prison officers.

The DOJ filed the federal government’s lawsuit against the State of Alabama and the Alabama Department of Corrections in December 2020 and filed an amended complaint in May 2021. 

Irrefutable documentation of pervasive violence, illegal drugs, and deaths in Alabama’s largest law enforcement agency

This crisis has resulted in a shameful and embarrassing national spotlight on the state. The New York Times called Alabama’s prisons “gruesome.”   In a Fox News report, then-Sen Cam Ward called the findings, “deeply humiliating,” and “disgusting.” Politico called the situation a “humanitarian crisis,” in an article quoting Adam Gelb, president and CEO of the Council on Criminal Justice: “It’s a state that has chased itself around in circles for the past two decades, and there have been some modest improvements, but the system remains terribly overcrowded and filled with people who in many cases should never have come through the front doors.”

St. Clair Correctional Facility

Locally, the Montgomery Advertiser’s reporting includes the story of the beating death of Steven Davis at the hands of correctional officers at Donaldson Correctional Facility. Seven months after the DOJ’s 2019 report the newspaper’s reporting found that “prison officials have withheld food from men, micromanaging minor disciplinary infractions while violence and unexpected deaths continue unabated, including nine which occurred during the reporting of this story in September and October.” The 2019 Advertiser article “American horror story’: The prison voices you don’t hear from have the most to tell us” detailed conversations with incarcerated people who tell of chaos, violence and corruption. 

Unfortunately, the situation got worse. Prison Legal News reported more than one death a week in 2022, and bizarre situations such as the videotaped beating of prisoner Jimmy Norman on the rooftop of the Elmore Chapel by a guard. 

In-depth reporting by WBHM’s Deliberate Indifference podcast details how Alabama’s prisons became the deadliest in the country, looks closely at understaffing and overcrowding and through the voices of the incarcerated, correctional officers and others, sheds more light on a crisis that was decades in the making. 

Appleseed in 2023 began publishing the “Cruel and Unusual” series of reports that focused on the people harmed by Alabama’s overreliance on excessive sentences, which trap people in deadly, dysfunctional prisons long after they have paid their debt, including Ronnie Peoples, a cancer patient who at the time had served more than two decades of a life without the possibility of parole sentence for crimes in which no one was physically harmed. Appleseed’s subsequent research followed Mr. Peoples as he fought to get adequate cancer treatment while still incarcerated. 

The prison crisis has captured headlines across the country, portraying Alabama in a problematic light.

Appleseed also spoke to the family of Christopher Mount, who was killed on Mother’s Day 2023 inside a segregation cell with another man in Easterling Correctional Facility. Mr. Mount’s daughter, then-17-year-old MaKayla Mount, in December 2023 told the story of her father’s death and impact on her life to members of the Legislative Joint Prison Oversight Committee. She carried the urn with his ashes into the Statehouse.

MaKayla Mount holds an urn containing her father Christopher Mount’s ashes at the Prison Oversight Committee’s hearing.

Also in the “Cruel and Unusual” series is the plight of Leon Hotchkiss, who is serving a 40-year sentence for growing marijuana. Mr. Hotchkiss, 70, with myriad health problems, has been assigned to the minimum-security Loxley Work Release Center for years and has held multiple jobs in the community. Even so, he was denied parole in February 2023. 

Appleseed in April 2023 noted the fourth anniversary of the DOJ’s 2019 report on Alabama’s prisons, which found that between the report’s release and the anniversary date, 698 people died in state prisons. Appleseed’s research also noted that the month that DOJ’s report was published in 2019, Alabama prisons were at 168 percent capacity, and at the time of Appleseed’s publication, prisons remained at 168 percent capacity. 

Daniel Terry Williams, 22, was likely smothered to death on November 7, 2022 inside Staton Correctional Facility.

Alabama Daily News reporting on the December 2023 public hearing of the Legislative Joint Prison Oversight Committee includes comments from impacted family members who told of deaths, assaults, torture, extortion of those family members and of the indifference of prison staff.  In AL.com’s subsequent reporting on the Committee’s July 2024 meeting the mother of Derrick Martin, killed by another incarcerated man in Elmore Correctional Facility, told members that her son discussed with her the stabbing and beatings he suffered during six years behind bars.

In 2024, Alabama prisons remained unconstitutionally dangerous places, Appleseed found, where more than 1,000 people had died inside Alabama prisons since the DOJ’s 2019 report release. The national spotlight again glared on the state with the kidnapping and torture death of 21-year-old Daniel Williams at Staton prison, days before his scheduled release. An Appleseed investigation found that the suspect in Mr. Williams’ death was involved in nine instances of sex assault, rape, and stabbing since 2017 while incarcerated in ADOC, yet he was never placed in segregation to prevent additional victimization. No criminal charges were ever filed. Numerous deaths are also the result of dangerous drugs brought in by prison staff.

Violence by ADOC officers has remained pervasive. The Alabama Reflector in May 2025 published the first of the four-part series “Blood Money” that details 124 lawsuits that ADOC settled between 2020 and 2024, 94 of which involved complaints of excessive force by officers. The cost of defending those lawsuits pushed ADOC’s legal spending over $57 million since 2020. 

The State of Alabama’s Responses

Gov. Kay Ivey in 2019 announced the formation of the Governor’s Study Group on Criminal Justice Policy that was to “receive and analyze accurate data, as well as evidence of best practices, ultimately helping to further address the challenges facing Alabama’s prison system.” While the study group’s recommendations, released in January 2020, did include suggestions on spending and ways to reduce recidivism, the group declined to take up more substantive sentencing reform measures. Former Alabama Supreme Court Justice Champ Lyons, who chaired the Study Group, issued this warning five years ago: “The time for action is now. We dare not abide by a status quo that risks the potential for costly and disruptive intervention by federal authorities.”

The Governor’s Study Group on Criminal Justice Policy. Photo courtesy of the Associated Press.

Ivey in May 2021 signed several criminal justice reform bills into law, but only one bill would have a minimal impact on prison populations by reducing prison sentences by up to one year for incarcerated people who complete academic and vocational programs. Instead of making a serious effort to reduce the prison population, the Governor’s Office forged ahead with a massive, costly prison construction plan, insisting “this Alabama problem has an Alabama solution.” 

Alabama’s new 4,000-bed prison is under construction in Elmore County. While the project was initially projected to cost $623 million, the cost ballooned to $1.28 billion. Lawmakers told Alabama Daily News that the state has secured 60% of the cost of a second 4,000-bed prison, to be built in Escambia County. Neither of the new prisons is expected to ease overcrowding, however, as the legislation authorizing prison construction requires the closing of several existing prisons, and acknowledges the intent of the law is to “replace existing prison facility capacity.” 

The state is spending billions on incarceration, yet the money hasn’t made a dent in the violence and death inside prisons. An Appleseed analysis found that state prison expenses over a five fiscal-year period, from 2022-2026, will reach $5 billion. That monumental figure includes the annual General Fund allocations to the Alabama Department of Corrections, plus the costs of new prison construction including debt service, but does not include the at least $57 million paid out of the state’s General Liability Trust Fund in recent years on ADOC legal expenses, primarily private contract attorneys to defend officers accused of misconduct and to defend the ADOC in federal class action litigation over unconstitutional prison conditions.

The Alabama Joint Prison Oversight Committee was formed by legislation in 2021 and in meetings held since, those members have heard from directly impacted families members and from ADOC officials. One product of those discussions was the formation of ADOC’s Constituent Services unit, tasked with answering family members’ questions and concerns about the health and safety of incarcerated loved ones. Oversight Committee Chair Sen. Clyde Chambliss, R-Prattville, sponsored legislation that allowed ADOC to hire an additional 15 people to staff that unit. 

In an effort to increase hiring and bolster retention efforts, Alabama in 2023 increased correctional officer pay, so that officer trainees can earn between $52,000 and $58,000, with a 27% pay hike after 18 months. One year later, ADOC officials told lawmakers that the department wouldn’t meet a judge’s order to hire an additional 2,000 officers by mid-2025. In 2024, ADOC announced a partnership with the Alabama Community College System that would see the system offer a free career prep program for people interested in working for ADOC. Enrollees in the program can earn up to nine tuition-free college credit hours. 

Overall, even with the knowledge that the prisons are deadly and unconstitutional, Alabama lawmakers have passed bills that lengthen sentences, reduce parole and good time, and increase the prison population. The Alabama Sentencing Commission released research in September, 2025 showing that prisons “could see inmate populations rise by nearly a third by 2030 due to new punitive laws passed by the Legislature. The Commission, working with Applied Research Services, a research firm that studies criminal justice, estimated the population in custody of the Alabama Department of Corrections could grow from 21,753 to between 24,000 and 28,000 inmates, depending on the number of people that the ADOC admits each month on average.”

Appleseed’s efforts: Justice for people, justice for Alabama

Since 2019, Appleseed has been working with stakeholders across Alabama to raise awareness about this crisis, develop evidence-based solutions, and garner bi-partisan support for meaningful reform. We’ve given dozens of presentations, testified before the Legislature, produced reports and policy briefs, and our team member Ronald McKeithen holds a seat on the Statewide Reentry Commission tasked with reducing recidivism. We will never stop beating the drum that to move beyond this crisis the state must develop alternatives to incarceration so that fewer people will ever enter the prison system, while also identifying (and freeing) older people who have paid their debt, aged out of criminality and whose permanent incarceration wastes resources.

That’s why Appleseed is also committed to direct legal representation and reentry services, focusing on older prisoners serving extreme sentences, who will likely die in prison without legal assistance. Our post-conviction and parole work has freed more than 30 people who have served more than 800 years combined in these prisons, people such as James Jones, 78, who served 43 years before we won his freedom. 

James Jones and Appleseed’s reentry team

Among our policy victories:

Grace Period Bill

In 2022, Appleseed advocated for the Grace Period Bill, which passed in its first session. The Grace Period Bill made it so individuals leaving incarceration have about 6 months before they have to begin paying back any of their legal financial obligations. This allows them time to obtain employment and begin getting back on their feet before they’re required to pay money they don’t often have on hand. 

Constituent Services Unit Bill

In 2024, Appleseed helped move SB322, a bill that, among other things, created the Constituent Services Unit at the Alabama Department of Corrections. This unit is tasked with responding to the concerns of family members, loved ones, and anyone else who has concern for an incarcerated person. The bill mandated an online form be publicly available on ADOC’s website, which is now up and running, and that there be a phone number associated with the unit. This bill was passed in large part due to the advocacy of families of incarcerated Alabamians. 

Second Chance efforts and successful legal work

In 2019, a judge reached out to Appleseed about a case where a man had been sentenced to life without the possibility of parole for crimes with no physical injury to a person. He had served over three decades for a $50 robbery at a Bessemer bakery. Appleseed represented this man, Alvin Kennard, and he was resentenced to time served and released. Since then Appleseed has discovered there are hundreds of older incarcerated people serving life without parole sentences under the state’s Habitual Felony Offender Act for crimes with no physical injury to a person. 

In the years since 2019 Appleseed has won the release of 23 people originally sentenced to die in prison, and nearly a dozen more freed through parole. Most are over the age of 60 and all of them served multiple decades in prison. Many of their stories are documented on Appleseed’s Second Chance Alabama website. Men once condemned to die for crimes with no physical injury– often when they were young or dealing with substance use disorders– are now living lives free with their families and friends, working as buffers for Town and Country Ford or drivers for Western Express Trucking, volunteering with church ministries, playing in dominoes tournaments and walking their dogs. We’ve developed a comprehensive reentry program staffed by reentry professionals to ensure they succeed. 

A group of Appleseed’s successful second chance clients, all freed from life without parole sentences

While providing the direct legal representation required to continue obtaining freedom for these individuals who remain incarcerated, Appleseed has also worked at the legislative level to create a state-level change that would allow these individuals and their cases to be reviewed systematically by judges across the state. While the Second Chance Bill has yet to pass, the bill made it to the final step in the legislative process two out of three years, and has garnered broad, bipartisan support from former state Supreme Court justices, prison ministries, a former U.S. Congressman, and Gov. Kay Ivey herself. 

Real Solutions are within reach, but we must move past slogans and political posturing

Appleseed’s 2020 “In Trouble” report surveyed 1,011 justice- involved Alabamians about their experiences in pre-trial diversion programming and drug court. We found that Alabama’s tangle of overlapping, unaccountable, and expensive diversion programs are not equally available to people who most need them. And structural obstacles force participants to make unconscionable choices in order to succeed, including committing new crimes. Appleseed recommends fully funding diversion programs and alternatives to incarceration, rather than relying on program participants to foot the bills. We assisted the Jefferson County District Attorney’s Office in the development of Reset, a program that does just that.  

Alabama’s reliance on life imprisonment for a wide range of offenses has resulted in soaring numbers of older, incarcerated people trapped in prison until death. Appleseed’s 2022 report “Unsustainable” details Alabama’s rapidly-aging prison population and rising cost to the state to care for the more than 7000 incarcerated people over age 50. Appleseed recommends passage of a “second look” bill that would provide a mechanism for judges to review the sentences of people serving life and life without parole under Alabama’s Habitual Felony Offender Act, who have already served decades and have demonstrated rehabilitation. Expanding medical furlough laws to work as intended can also immediately alleviate systemic strain while recognizing the humanity of the individuals in Alabama’s prisons. 

In 2025 Appleseed published the “Positive Programs” report that gives examples of real-world prison programs, many led by incarcerated people, in other states that are reducing recidivism and instances of violence and fostering more humane conditions of confinement. Appleseed recommends that Alabama lawmakers, ADOC officials and other stakeholders should reach out to those out-of-state leaders to learn more about these programs, that ADOC should recognize the most successful programs are led by incarcerated people themselves and ADOC should increase its collaborations with universities and other programming partners.

You can learn more about these and other related issues by reading these and other Appleseed’s reports.

What YOU can do

The Joint Legislative Prison Oversight Committee will meet on Wednesday, Oct. 22nd in Montgomery at 10:30am in room 200 of the Alabama State House. The presence of everyday Alabamians, families and friends of incarcerated people, faith leaders, and advocates at these meetings has led to real, systemic change and has created a renewed focus on the crisis in Alabama’s prisons. We encourage you to attend! If you can’t, the meeting can be watched live or later on The Alabama Channel. This committee meets quarterly, with an annual public hearing in July. Continued attendance by concerned Alabama’s is critical to ensuring legislators know their constituents are watching.

Find out who your state legislators are and get to know them! It’s important to not only know who they are, but to build a relationship with them so you can reach out to them proactively, rather than only in a reactionary way. They represent YOU– make sure they hear from you so they can do it well! Find contact information for your state senator here, and your representative here. You do not have to be an expert on criminal justice reform. You can simply share that you are a voter who cares about the rights and treatment of incarcerated people and you want to know what they are doing to make prisons safer beyond just building more of them. You can also contact Appleseed’s Policy Director, Elaine Burdeshaw, for tips on speaking with lawmakers. She can be reached at elaine.burdeshaw@alabamaappleseed.org.

Policy Director Elaine Burdeshaw at the Alabama Statehouse with Appleseed clients

Pay attention to criminal justice legislation during the 2026 Alabama Legislative session, which starts in January. Because 2026 is an election year, lawmakers feel pressure to avoid taking risks. Leaders who support even modest prison reform can be accused of being “soft on crime,” which is unpopular in Alabama and part of what has led to the crisis documented above. While 2026  will be a tough session for creating change through legislation, even tougher than the previous six sessions, where little was accomplished, lawmakers must hear from constituents!. Sign up for Appleseed emails to learn more about the issues, the bills, and how to engage with elected officials during this important session.

Host a presentation at your church, civic group, school, or business– reach out to us and we’d be happy to join you. Appleseed can provide reports and materials to educate you and your colleagues. Also, our formerly incarcerated clients can be part of a presentation to provide vital insight on prison conditions and the urgency of reform.

Spread the word. Tell your friends, neighbors, community members about what you know. Advocacy and change often move at the speed of relationships– the more we all know, the more we can do together! Appleseed’s website contains numerous ways to learn about these issues and get involved. You can also request a presentation by Appleseed. Our policy experts, legal staff, and formerly incarcerated clients speak across the state (and sometimes in other states!) about all aspects of Alabama’s criminal justice system. Email us at admin@alabamaappleseed.org to request a presentation.

Finally, if you have a loved one who is sick or being mistreated in an Alabama prison, you should be able to get information about them. ADOC in 2025 formed the department’s Constituent Services unit staffed with employees at each major prison tasked with providing information to concerned family members and acting upon pleas from those family members and advocates for help when incarcerated people are in danger. That online form can be found here. 

 

 

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Appleseed’s Executive Director is inducted into Florence Walk of Honor

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By Carla Crowder, Appleseed Executive Director

FLORENCE Ala., — When I lived in Florence in the 1980s and 1990s, I was pretty average, at best. 

There was one thing I did well. I shot free throws, and for three years in a row I represented the City of Florence in the national finals of the Elks Club free throw shooting competition in Indianapolis. My youth was otherwise fairly unremarkable to the point where I didn’t even have a date to senior prom. I spent that night working the drive-thru window at Wendy’s.

Ronald McKeithen at the Walk of Honor

I also made more than my share of mistakes, mostly just misdemeanors, as a kid. But Florence always treated me with compassion and mercy and I was not defined by my mediocrity or mistakes. None of us should be. 

Enjoying the Walk of Honor Ceremony with my biggest advocate, my husband Bernard Troncale

And that’s the reason that being chosen for the Walk of Honor is especially meaningful. I’m being honored as an advocate for criminal justice reform, as someone who has made a difference by representing incarcerated people and challenging the systems that unnecessarily condemn thousands of Alabamians to prison, often for mistakes made as very young people. Our team at Alabama Appleseed reaches into Alabama’s wretched prisons and finds pathways to freedom for people who would otherwise die there. 

And Florence, Alabama, specifically the 11-member Walk of Honor Selection Committee, decided this was valuable work that deserves recognition. I am beyond grateful to my hometown for this honor.

I also know I was honored for the accomplishments and dedication of our entire team at Alabama Appleseed. We are a small nonprofit and each one of us contributes mightily to our mission, whether through legal and reentry work, policy advocacy, research and writing, or building coalitions for change.

The other honorees at the September 26 ceremony were literal rock stars, Jason Isbell and Spooner Oldham, and an unsung hero in journalism, Louis Eckl, a longtime editor of the Times Daily who took enormous risks to advocate for desegregation and civil rights in the 1950s and 1960s.

Members of Appleseed’s staff joined the Walk of Honor festivities in Florence and got to meet fellow honoree Jason Isbell

This has not been an easy year for me. In June, my father passed away. John Crowder was a true Florence character, an activist and environmentalist, who spent 45 years in the Shoals and touched so many lives with his eager conversation, curiosity, and helpfulness. Not every Southern girl of my era had a father who encouraged her to question politicians who misused their power and stand up for the vulnerable. I am eternally grateful that my father did. He sure did.   

The Walk of Honor recognizes Florence and Lauderdale County residents who have had a national or international impact. Currently 70 people are honored, ranging from music legend W.C. Handy to champion golfer Stewart Cink.

I’ll close with my quote from the City’s press release:

“I don’t come from wealth, or privilege, or the Ivy League, and yet, I lead an organization that’s making a difference for marginalized and vulnerable people in Alabama. So, anybody can do that.”

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Appleseed welcomes UA legal extern Nicholas Thoma

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My name is Nicholas Thoma and I’m thrilled to be working with Alabama Appleseed this fall as a legal extern. I’m originally from Pennsylvania but have called Alabama home for the last five years since I came to the University of Alabama for my undergraduate studies. I am currently a 2L at the University of Alabama School of Law and planning to become a public defender upon my graduation.

My passion for public interest is fueled by my experience in Alabama. Growing up I was ignorant of many of the inherent challenges our legal system imposes on disadvantaged groups. During my freshman year of college I read “The Sun Does Shine”, Anthony Ray Hinton’s autobiography which described his wrongful incarceration on Alabama’s death row; a partial result of his inability to afford adequate representation. This was the turning point that made me realize I wanted to become a public defender and help keep people from ever facing a similar situation.

Once I entered law school I began to realize that wrongful incarcerations were just one small part of an overarching inequality within our criminal justice system. There are numerous issues with sentencing, prison conditions, work programs; the list goes on and on. These problems aren’t going to change unless people advocate for people who have been incarcerated. Too often society looks down upon these people and judges them for their worst day. We need zealous advocates at every step of the criminal justice system, both before and after incarceration.

I could not be more proud to be working with Alabama Appleseed this fall. It is rare to find an organization that advocates so zealously for their clients, especially when those clients are people who have been incarcerated. I am so grateful for the opportunity to contribute to this advocacy this fall and through any chances I have in the future.

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August at St. Clair prison: a supervisor arrested on drug trafficking charges, reports of guns, two suspected drug overdose deaths, and now a young man with asthma has died and his family has no answers.

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By Eddie Burkhalter, Appleseed Researcher

The family of a 25-year-old man with just over a year left to serve on nonviolent property crimes believes he may have died from a severe asthma attack alone in a segregation cell at St. Clair prison, but because the Alabama Department of Corrections (ADOC) no longer provides full autopsies for all who die in prison, they may never know his cause of death.

Marlon Marshall, 25, was found deceased in a segregation cell sometime after 2 a.m. on Aug. 22, according to ADOC and his family, who spoke with an investigator from the department’s Law Enforcement Services Division (LESD).

Marlon Marshall, a 25-year-old man with severe asthma, died in a segregation cell at St. Clair prison.

Mr. Marshall’s death in a segregation cell, a place where people are often placed to keep them safe, is but another sign of the increasing chaos inside St. Clair prison in recent months. Multiple sources told Appleseed that a man was stabbed there by another incarcerated man on Aug. 21, but the man survived.

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 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 statement.

On Aug. 12, two guns were reportedly found in St. Clair prison, multiple sources told Appleseed. However, ADOC declined to confirm when asked on Aug. 13.

“On Monday, Aug. 11, 2025, the Alabama Department of Corrections conducted a security search detail at St. Clair Correctional Facility with support from the K-9 Division and the Correctional Emergency Response Team. The search resulted in the confiscation of various contraband. The search results and any subsequent investigation are ongoing,” an ADOC spokeswoman responded.

Asked again whether ADOC would confirm the discovery of two guns in the prison — noting that such a discovery would eventually appear in ADOC’s quarterly reports, and recalling that in August 2023 an incarcerated man armed with a pistol took control of Donaldson prison, a fact ADOC initially refused to acknowledge despite video evidence — the spokeswoman again declined.

“The ADOC cannot elaborate or comment about ongoing law enforcement investigations. People forget that ADOC is a law enforcement agency and details regarding investigations could compromise those investigations. Once the statistical reports are posted to the website, that is no longer the case,” she wrote.

Discovered unresponsive

“He was a very caring individual,” Marlon Marshall’s mother, Marcia Gant, told Appleseed. Mr. Marshall loved music and photography. He had been bullied in public school, later attended an alternative school, and before his arrest had been working toward his GED. Her son suffered from severe asthma.

Ms. Gant learned of her son’s death not from the prison, but from her sister, who called after seeing the news posted on Facebook.

Mr. Marshall had suffered from severe asthma since childhood, said his mother and uncle, Admire Gant, a Mobile County Sheriff’s deputy. Mr. Gant added that an investigator with ADOC’s Law Enforcement Services Division told him his nephew’s cell was clean and contained two asthma inhalers.  “When he was in Metro [jail] in the summertime he was sent to the hospital because of his asthma,” Mr. Gant said, referring to his nephew’s time in county jail prior to conviction.

Mr. Gant said that since his nephew’s death, he has spoken with St. Clair’s warden, the LESD investigator overseeing the case, and the Lee County coroner. Based on those conversations, he fears the family may never know the full circumstances of Marshall’s death. A toxicology screening was conducted, however, Mr. Gant said.

Marlon Marshall was serving a sentence for non-violent property crimes.

“Inmate Marlon Marshall was discovered unresponsive in his cell. Life-saving measures were administered but to no avail. Inmate Marshall was pronounced deceased by the attending physician,” ADOC’s response to Appleseed reads. “The Lee County Coroner conducts toxicology tests for all ‘natural’ and ‘suspected overdose’ deaths unless the death occurs in Jefferson County. A copy of the report is part of the LESD death investigation file. The results are shared with family and/or other entities subject to HIPAA, which survives death.”

Mr. Marshall had served nearly two years of a three-year sentence for nonviolent property crimes. In October 2023, he pleaded guilty to two counts of theft by deception and one count of breaking into a motor vehicle. He was sentenced to 20 years, to serve three years in prison, with the remainder on probation, court records show.  Mr. Marshall was allegedly involved in an altercation with another incarcerated man at Ventress Correctional Facility on Jan. 21, 2025, according to court records, and was ordered to spend 45 days in segregation. He was later transferred to St. Clair, a maximum-security prison. The family does not know why he remained in segregation there at the time of his death.

Autopsies for some, not all

UAB Hospital terminated its longstanding agreement with ADOC to conduct autopsies and toxicology screens on suspected natural and overdose deaths on April 22, 2024.

The agreement had ADOC paying $2,200 per autopsy and $100 per toxicology test, according to court documents in a lawsuit. That revenue may not have outweighed the fallout from a lawsuit in which families discovered their incarcerated loved ones’ bodies had been returned missing internal organs. Since UAB terminated its contract, in-custody deaths from natural causes or suspected overdoses are no longer receiving state-provided full autopsies, leaving many families unsure how their loved ones died.

“All inmate deaths are investigated by the ADOC’s Law Enforcement Services Division. However, under existing state law, post-mortem examinations or autopsies are only required for deaths resulting from unlawful, suspicious, or unnatural causes (Ala. Code Section 36-18-2). In those cases, the deceased is transported to the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences for an autopsy,” ADOC wrote in a statement to Appleseed in May 2024, when Appleseed first reported UAB’s contract termination.

“Deaths not covered under Ala. Code Section 36-18-2 receive a toxicology screen prior to release to the inmate’s family. Although the department previously contracted with UAB Hospital to conduct autopsies on suspected overdose or natural deaths, UAB terminated its long-standing agreement effective April 22, 2024. Since that time, the department has made numerous inquiries but has been unable to find another vendor to provide autopsies for ADOC inmates who died of natural causes or suspected overdoses,” the statement continues.

Asked this week whether ADOC has since secured a vendor to provide autopsies in such cases, a spokesperson sent the same response Appleseed received in May 2024.

Alabama’s Prison Death Database

Alabama Appleseed is building a database of Alabama prison deaths and has completed its first year of data, covering 2023, which shows a record 334 deaths in state prisons. Because of the change in 2024 that impacts who ADOC approves for autopsies, it will be impossible to know for certain how some have died moving forward. 

There were 28 deaths at St. Clair prison in 2023, according to Appleseed’s research derived from records requests to multiple state agencies. Of those, two were homicides, three were suicides, 13 were deemed natural and nine were overdose deaths. 

Statewide, in 2023 there were 14 homicides and 101 overdose deaths in Alabama prisons. Appleseed continues to collect death data for 2024 and 2025.

 

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Alabama Department of Corrections: $5 billion in spending in five years

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As legislative budget hearings take place this week in Montgomery, it’s a good time to review the recent costs to Alabama taxpayers for our prison system, which consumes 25% of the state’s General Fund budget. 

An Appleseed analysis has found that state prison expenses over five years are $5 billion. That’s right, if you include the annual General Fund allocations to the Alabama Department of Corrections, plus the costs of new prison construction including debt service, the people of Alabama will have handed over approximately $1 billion per year to ADOC in fiscal years 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, and 2026.

Here’s the full breakdown based on publicly available spreadsheets from the Executive Budget Office:

  • $610.7 million from the General Fund in FY2022
  • $663.6 million from the General Fund in FY2023
  • $733.7 million from the General Fund in FY2024
  • $780.6 million from the General Fund in FY2025
  • $826.7 million from the General Fund in FY2026 (which starts in October)
  • $1.3 billion authorized for prison construction during 2021 special session on prisons, currently being used to build the Gov. Kay Ivey megaprison in Elmore County, which is expected to cost $1.2 billion.
  • $85 million from the General Fund in FY25 and FY26 for debt service on prison construction bonds issued to build the 4000-bed prison in Elmore County.

By way of comparison, each bed in the Governor Kay Ivey megaprison, comes at a cost of $300,000, significantly more than the average price of a home in Alabama, which was $235,066 as of July of 2025.

This $5 billion tally does not include at least $57 million paid out of the state’s General Liability Trust Fund in recent years on ADOC legal expenses, primarily private contract attorneys to defend officers accused of misconduct and to defend the ADOC in federal class action litigation over unconstitutional prison conditions. 

ADOC is the second highest General Fund expense in the State. Medicaid is the highest. Medicaid provides healthcare to approximately one million Alabamians at a similar cost to the state for incarceration of approximately 22,000 individuals in custody, plus another 4,300 in Community Corrections.

Last session, lawmakers passed a bill to add another $500 million to the state’s bonding capacity to pay for more prison space, a second planned megaprison in Escambia County.

Appleseed believes Alabamians deserve to know the significant costs to our state of consistently having one of the country’s highest incarceration rates. Alabama is a poor state when compared to numerous other states with large prison populations; prioritizing expensive prisons swallows resources that could be invested in crime prevention and overall wellbeing, such as mental health care, substance use treatment and prevention of child abuse and neglect. Nearly 25% of the entire General Fund pays for prisons, and these funds do not include construction of new prisons. Critical agencies for prevention and wellbeing combined receive 19% percent of the General Fund. Here’s a breakdown:

Also concerning, as ADOC spending has soared over the last 20 years, funding for the Department of Human Resources, the Department of Mental Health and the Department of Public Health has increased at a slower pace, and currently these agencies receive a smaller portion of General Fund dollars than in years past, our analysis found. DHR has been hit the hardest. In 2003, the agency’s allocation was $73 million, or 7.3% of the General Fund. For the current fiscal year, DHR received $146 million, a higher dollar amount but only 4.5% of the General Fund. 

Additionally troubling is that there’s little to show for this spending spree. In 2023, the prisons had the highest number of deaths in its history, 335. Of those 14 were homicides, and 101 were drug overdoses. Last year was slightly better at 274, but still one of the highest death rates in the nation. Officer recruitment appears to be on the rise following large salary increases, but the Department loses officers regularly, many because of criminal charges.

With the complex in Elmore County consuming nearly $1.2 billion, it’s unknown where funding for the second prison in Escambia County will come from or even how much it will cost. “It’s going to be a lot more than we originally thought,” Sen. Greg Albritton, the Senate General Fund committee chair has acknowledged. He sponsored a bill in the 2025 legislative session that added another $500 million to the state’s bonding capacity to pay for more prison space.

 

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Appleseed’s latest report shows that ‘Safer prisons are within reach.’

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By Eddie Burkhalter, Appleseed Researcher

Alabama’s prison system is in crisis. Federal courts have said so. Back-to-back years of record prison deaths show it. The people who live and work inside those facilities feel it every day.

Violence, understaffing, and overcrowded dorms are pushing the system past a breaking point, and while new prison construction continues, that alone won’t fix the deeper problems. Alabama needs answers that go beyond bricks and mortar—answers rooted in what’s actually working in other parts of the country.

This briefing lays out five real-world examples of prison reforms from other states. They’re not theories. These are programs already in place that are reducing violence, cutting recidivism and helping staff do their jobs more safely and effectively.

Take California’s GRIP program, where men serving long sentences learn how to manage anger and take responsibility for past harm. Graduates almost never come back to prison. In South Carolina, a pilot program for young adults has cut the use of solitary confinement and assaults on staff. Missouri, Maine and Oregon are trying models that focus on rehabilitation and basic human dignity—with results that speak for themselves.

These aren’t soft-on-crime experiments. They’re serious efforts, backed by data, that reflect a growing national understanding: safer prisons aren’t just better for those inside. They’re better for public safety, for communities and for the people who go to work behind the fences every day.

Alabama has the opportunity to lead among Southern states in implementing bold, results-oriented reform. The following case studies offer a roadmap for change—one that can enhance safety, reduce legal liabilities, support staff retention, and, most importantly, provide incarcerated individuals with the tools to return home prepared to contribute to their communities.

Read Appleseed’s latest report to learn more. We will be sharing this roadmap with lawmakers, ADOC officials, families of incarcerated Alabamians, and advocates across the state as evidence that transformative change in possible even in prison. And as the report shows, the most powerful change is being driven by incarcerated people themselves.

Positive Programs report
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Appleseed Welcomes Intern MaKenzie Smith

By MaKenzie Smith

My name is Makenzie Smith, and I am excited to be spending this summer as a policy intern with Alabama Appleseed and Alabama Arise. I’m from Moundville, Alabama, and have grown up in the Tuscaloosa County area. I recently graduated from The University of Alabama with a degree in Political Science and a minor in Global and Cultural Perspectives. I’m currently pursuing my Master of Public Administration at The University of Alabama and will complete my final semester this fall, having entered the program as an accelerated master’s student.

MaKenzie is a master’s student at University of Alabama.

As a Black woman raised in Alabama, I have long been familiar with the realities of both interpersonal and systemic racism. That familiarity left me with a deep sense that I could not remain passive. This, paired with the influence of my mother, a social worker who emphasized the importance of civic engagement and advocacy, led me to aspire to a future career focused on confronting systemic racism.

During my sophomore year, I attended a forum hosted by Tide Against Time, a campus organization dedicated to informing students about mass incarceration and the prison industrial complex, titled “Conditions of Prisons in the U.S. & Alabama.” Lee Davis and Ron McKeithen, representatives of Alabama Appleseed, came to discuss the harsh reality of Alabama’s prison conditions, their personal experiences, and Alabama Appleseed’s work to fight for incarcerated individuals who have fallen victim to the mass incarceration complex and Alabama’s overly punitive outlook on prison which often under prioritizes rehabilitation. Attending this talk was my first exposure to Alabama Appleseed, and I immediately admired the organization’s commitment to advancing justice through advocacy, policy reform, and legal representation. I was especially inspired by the way the organization, and the dedicated individuals who work there, build meaningful relationships with people who have been unjustly overlooked by the system. This admiration led me to pursue an internship with the organization so I could learn how to contribute to positive change in Alabama’s prison system in the same meaningful ways they do.

Through my participation in the Blackburn Institute, a civic engagement and leadership development program at my university, I developed a deeper understanding of the importance of not speaking for communities, but instead listening to understand their needs and working to amplify their voices. This perspective shapes my passion for prison reform, particularly the ambition to uplift the voices of one of the most disenfranchised populations in the United States. Upon graduating with my Master of Public Administration, I plan to attend law school with the goal of becoming a civil rights lawyer. I am thankful to Alabama Appleseed for the opportunity to observe their work up close, receive generous and wise support and guidance, and begin developing the skills needed to contribute meaningfully to justice and reform in my home state.

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Welcome Appleseed Intern, Wyatt Williams

By Wyatt Williams, Appleseed Intern

My name is Wyatt Williams, and I am excited about joining the Appleseed team this upcoming summer! Born and raised in Birmingham, I graduated from Vestavia Hills High School, and I now attend the University of Georgia, where I am a rising sophomore majoring in Political Science and Economics. I will forever be proud to call Alabama home, and I look forward to returning to my roots this summer to serve the community I so love.

Wyatt visits with client Lee Davis and his energetic companion.

A student of history, I hope to learn how the mistakes of the past led to the injustices that plague the present and what current decisions still trap so many in a vicious cycle. Alabama is a state of proud people who desire a brighter future, and efforts to correct past errors are essential and promising.

Above all, I am motivated by Jesus Christ’s command to serve “the least of these.” So often stigmatized and neglected by society, the voices of the incarcerated are rarely heard and listened to. Working specifically with Appleseed’s reentry program, I am excited about the opportunity to form connections with the people most affected by our system but have been given a second chance at life.

Wanting to build a life centered around service, I am grateful to experience service on both a large and small scale. From working directly with individuals affected by the criminal justice system and by working to reform it, I am inspired by this balanced work and the multitude of ways to serve. I know the stories heard and the knowledge gained will help me learn if criminal justice is the path for me. I am humbled to be a part of such a team and look forward to helping build a better future for all Alabamians.

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Appleseed Welcomes Summer Intern James Stephens

My name is James Stephens, and I’m excited to intern at Alabama Appleseed this summer! I was born and raised here in Birmingham and will start my sophomore year at New York University this fall. Right now, my plan is to major in history and hopefully attend law school after I graduate.
Growing up in Alabama, my interest in history made me keenly aware of this state’s legacy of injustice. Studying the systems of slavery, Jim Crow, and Convict Lease led my curiosity to mass incarceration and its modern injustices. In my first semester at NYU, I took a class called The Making of Mass Incarceration in America. There, I learned about the exponential rise in the prison population, the criminalization of poverty, and how our modern justice system creates a second class of citizens. This country holds almost a quarter of all the prisoners on Earth, and the most dysfunctional version of this system happens to be in my home state. The more I learn about the issues fellow Alabamians face in our courts and prisons, the greater my conviction that mass incarceration is one of the state’s biggest problems. With this education and love for Alabama, I am driven to help fix these issues however I can.
I am thankful to Appleseed for allowing me the opportunity to fulfill this effort. Here I am surrounded by inspiring Alabamians with a shared dedication to justice. This organization saves lives, fights the good fight, and builds hope for a better Alabama. I look forward to an educational and exciting summer!
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“Underneath the quilt you’re safe.”

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With help from friends, Appleseed’s Callie Greer is capturing the pain of families who have lost loved ones to violence and creating something beautiful. Join her quilting event on July 19 in Birmingham. Details below. 

By Callie Greer

Appleseed Community Navigator

I’d thought about making a memorial quilt for our loved ones for a while, but I’ve never made a quilt. So, from time to time, I would mention wanting to make a quilt, but there were no takers. Maybe I was dropping my hints around the wrong people. People thought it was a great idea, but I never got any suggestions on where, or how, to start the quilt. 

 

But the more I listened to the stories from mothers like Ms. Barbara Maxwell, who shared with me in one of our conversations about her grieving process, I knew this was something that needed to be done. When we spoke she told me that sometimes she would be crying and had to stop in the middle of her grieving to ask herself which one of her sons she was crying for! You see, Barbara lost two sons within five months of each other–  she’s still seeking answers and justice for both of them. I thought about the quilt listening to Ms. Brenda Page Smith, who also lost her son to gun violence. She started the search for him herself with some help from others and found her son lying in a ditch– she’s also still seeking answers and justice for her son. And of course, I thought of myself and my children that I will always carry in a wound in my heart. With our need for a way to continue healing, the quilt never left my thoughts. 

Then a friend of mine, Dana Ellis, made me and my husband a lovely quilt. Believe it or not, I didn’t connect those two things together, at least not for a while. You see, I wanted my quilt to have the faces of our loved ones who were lost to violence sewn into it, and I wanted it to be a symbol and a dedication of our undying love to them, even though they are not with us physically anymore. I felt like it would be an embrace that only we knew why we needed it. 

Because when I think of a quilt, I think of comfort, warmth, a place of healing when something ails you. You know, the kind of calming only your momma or grandmama can give you when you need to hear, “Everything’s going to be alright, maybe not right now, but in time.” Underneath the quilt you’re safe. Safe to groan, moan, cry, be still, and heal. Covered, safe, quiet, restored, peaceful, and yes, loved. I know that’s a lot, but you can choose whatever you need from it and leave the rest for others. And there are so many others. This quilt will hopefully be all those things and also a gathering place as we come together to sew together the faces that were torn away from us too soon, always too soon. 

And what else will we do with this quilt? We’ll rally for life and the end of so much gun violence. We’ll rally for safe spaces for our families, counseling for those directly affected by the traumas that come with the violence and the loss. 

I offer you the same voice I did before: take whatever speaks to your passion and join the fight.  Don’t waste your pain! Use it to create something terribly beautiful, like this quilt. Thank you Dana Ellis for catching one of my many hints and running with it. Our MAAVIS Memorial Quilt is a reality. Thank you, Alabama Appleseed and Crime Survivors for Safety and Justice for your initial support. And thank you everyone who has since joined.

We’ll be hosting our next event to add to the quilt on July 19, 2025 at Greater Birmingham Ministries, 2304 12th Avenue North in Birmingham from 1 pm- 4 pm. Space will be limited. You can reach out to me at callie.greer@alabamaappleseed.org.

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