EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF THE ALABAMA PRISON SUMMARY PART 2

Alabama's overuse of incarceration and attendant prison crisis stem from two flaws in the state's criminal justice system. First, the current sentencing structure exposes defendants charged with nonviolent and low-level offenses to the same long sentencing ranges as others whose crimes pose a much greater risk to public safety. The problem is compounded by harsh mandatory sentencing laws -including the state's repeat-offense statute and "drug-free zone" enhancements-that fall hardest on those convicted of non violent crimes.
Alabma's Habitual Felony Offender Act-considered one of the toughest in the nation-exposes defendants to sentences that are up to ten times the sentence permitted for first-offenders. Under the law, an individual charged with stealing $3,000 who has one previous felony conviction faces the same harsh sentencing range, 10 to 99 years, whether the prior conviction was for marijuana possession or murder. In fact, prisoners sentenced as "habitual offenders" were twice as likely to be serving time for property offenses as personal offenses. Further, wide variation in use of the statute exacerbates sentencing disparity. For example, prisoners committed from Montgomery were two times more likely to be sentenced as "habitual offenders" than those committed from Mobile.
The second cause of Alabama's prison crisis is historic underinvestment in community corrections, which has left judges with few options apart from the already overburdened prison and probation systems. The state's community corrections programs have been shown to be a popular and effective way to criminal justice costs while improving outcomes. Despite progress made in the last few years, however, half of Alabama counties have no access to community corrections programs. This development of a strategic plan to increase funding support to assure that every judge has effective penalty options and sufficient high-quality substance abuse treatment placements at hand when making sentencing decisions.