After 33 years on parole, Bennie Haggins, 71, is granted a pardon

Mr. Haggins served a decade in prison for a $29 robbery and has paid more than $15,000 in parole supervision fees since his release in 1991.

By Eddie Burkhalter, Appleseed Researcher 

MONTGOMERY, AL — Bennie Haggins sat in a waiting area before his pardon hearing was set to begin on Wednesday  in Montgomery and talked about what he hoped was to come. Only 33 living Alabamians had been on parole longer than Mr. Haggins, who was released on parole June 3, 1991, and had been under supervision with limited opportunities and movement since then.

“I’m ready to be free,” Mr. Haggins said. 

Standing in front of the three-member Pardons and Paroles Board moments later board member Darryl Littleton asked Mr. Haggins, 71, what happened the day of the robbery. The board regularly asks all those applying for a pardon to discuss the circumstances around the crime that resulted in their incarceration. 

Bennie Haggins, along with family members and supporters, celebrate his pardon following his successful hearing on October 8.

Mr. Haggins, 71, fought back tears and with a cracked voice explained that his childhood and young adult life were difficult. “I had no direction. I was on my own,” Mr. Haggins said. He apologized to his victim, referring to her by name. Mr. Littleton later noted that he remembered his victim’s name. 

Mr. Haggins’s father abandoned the family when he was very young, and his mother followed suit when he was nine. He was raised by his grandmother and was kicked out of school in the 11th grade. Struggling with addiction, he turned to petty theft in the late 1970s. In May 1983, Mr. Haggins, in a drunken state, robbed a convenience store of $29. No one was physically injured in his crime and he was caught a short time later. He pled guilty and was sentenced to life with the possibility of parole because of his previous property crimes. 

“I take full responsibility for what I did,” Mr. Haggins told the board members, and he also told them about the transformation his life took after leaving prison. 

From prison, he went to work for the Sterilite Corporation in Birmingham and soon after began volunteering with the American Red Cross, which eventually hired him onto the Emergency Disaster Services team, where he would travel to weather-impacted areas and help those most in need. He spent a decade at Red Cross before being hired at the Jimmie Hale Mission in Birmingham 2022 as an intact coordinator, helping the unhoused find respite. When the weather turns freezing he drives the mission van out into the Birmingham streets looking for those who need a warm palace for the night. 

“When’s the last day you’ve had off?,” Board Chair Hal Nash asked Mr. Haggins, who responded: “I don’t take days off.” 

Bennie Haggins working at the Downtown Jimmie Hale Mission, where he assists with intake and with ensuring unsheltered people are provided safety and shelter on freezing nights.

Perryn Carroll, executive director of the Jimmie Hale Mission, spoke on behalf of his pardon and said that Mr. Haggins has used his past as a catalyst “both to change his life and to change countless other lives.” 

“Bennie’s story is a perfect illustration of why parole is such a crucial part of our criminal justice system,” Scott Fuqua, Appleseed attorney, told board members. “And he is a shining example of what is possible when those convicted of crimes are not judged solely by their worst mistakes, but instead as a person who still possesses the human spirit and the limitless potential for positive change.” 

After deliberating Mr. Haggins’s pardon application, and the pardon and parole applications of three others at the hearing, the board voted to approve a full pardon for Mr. Haggins. As of that moment he would no longer have to report to a parole officer or pay the monthly $40 supervision fee. He’d be free to vote and to travel out-of-state, something that kept him from going on cruises with his wife and daughter. 

“Overwhelmed,” Mr. Haggins said after the vote. 

“When I look back, I destroyed my whole life, but God blessed me with the opportunity to get it back, and I took full advantage of it and tried to help as many people as I could help, and I haven’t stopped,” Mr. Haggins said. And that won’t stop now that he’s pardoned, he said. There’s much left to do.