Death Penalty
Alabama’s death penalty system is broken beyond repair. Over ten years ago the American Bar Association brought together a team of Alabama legal experts to review Alabama’s use of the death penalty. The team, which included a prosecutor, criminal defense attorneys, a State Senator, a law professor, a retired federal magistrate judge, and a retired Associate Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court, had a clear mission – to determine the fairness and accuracy of Alabama’s death penalty process.
Despite the differing views on whether Alabama should have a death penalty, their conclusion was unanimous – Alabama’s death penalty system ensures neither fairness nor accuracy. In fact, the concerns were so serious that the ABA report recommended a temporary moratorium on executions until the recommendations were implemented.
Over ten years later, the vast majority of those recommendations have still not been implemented. We’re working to implement these recommendations.
What we do
Recent victory!
- Alabama Appleseed led the effort (with the Southern Poverty Law Center) to remove the power of a judge to override a jury’s sentencing verdict in capital cases.
Predatory Lending Project
Tens of thousands of Alabamians are trapped in a cycle of debt because of predatory loans. According to the latest information available from the Alabama State Banking Department, there are 630 licensed payday loan shops open for business in the state today. By comparison, there are approximately 250 McDonald’s restaurants in Alabama. The Banking Department—which has been tracking data on all payday loans granted in Alabama since 2015—reports that the average payday borrower in Alabama takes out eight loans per year. Between October 2016 and September 2017, 214,429 Alabamians took out more than 1.8 million payday loans.
The Consumer Federation of America reports that using payday loans leaves consumers twice as likely to end up in bankruptcy within two years, twice as likely to end up becoming delinquent on credit cards, more likely to have their bank accounts closed involuntarily, and also much more likely to struggle with necessary living expenses.
Beyond the individual costs that borrowers are burdened with, the debt traps created by the payday loan industry suck vast sums of money out of local economies and small businesses. Between October 2016 and October 2017, Alabamians paid more than $107 million dollars to payday lenders in fines and fees. In the preceding year, the amount was $116.4 million. If these two years are representative, then it is likely that Alabama’s local economies—and low-income communities—are losing more than a billion dollars every decade to payday lenders in fees alone. That money isn’t staying in Alabama, either: it is almost exclusively flowing to the out-of-state corporate headquarters of major payday lending franchises.
Alabama Appleseed is committed to protecting borrowers in our state from predatory lending practices. We advance legislation that would curb the predatory practices of payday lenders in Alabama, with the ultimate goal of instituting a 36 percent APR rate cap on all small loans (as is standard in many other states, including in Georgia and North Carolina).
Why This Matters
- Low-income borrowers face interest rates as high as 456% APR;
- 30 percent of payday loan borrowers took out 12 payday loans or more according to the most recent annual data;
- Payday borrowers paid payday lenders more than $107 million in fees in the most recent year alone.
Recent Publications
Latest Updates
Public Support for Payday Reform Increases in Alabama
Dana Sweeney, Other Issues“How is this not illegal?”
Dana Sweeney, Leah Nelson, News, Other IssuesEfforts to Expand Alabama’s Broken Death Penalty System Defeated!
Leah Nelson, Other IssuesPredatory Lending and the Alabama Legislature
Dana Sweeney, Other IssuesLatest News
- Joshua Hamer, incarcerated on a probation violation for nonviolent crimes, is beaten to death in prison. December 5, 2024
- Happy 25th Anniversary Alabama Appleseed! November 11, 2024
- After investigation, no criminal charges in the torture and homicide of Daniel Williams at Staton prison. November 8, 2024
- Reflections October 2, 2024
- Charles Craig was incarcerated 19 years for a victimless crime. September 18, 2024
Contact Us
Alabama Appleseed Center for Law & Justice
400 South Union Street, Suite 355
Montgomery, Alabama 36104
2 Office Park Circle, Suite 10
Birmingham, AL 35223
Phone: (205) 963-7999
admin@alabamaappleseed.org