Champ Lyons: Governor’s Study Group on Criminal Justice Policy Yields Positive Recommendations
Former Supreme Court Justice Champ Lyons discusses the findings of Kay Ivey’s study group on criminal justice policy in Alabama.
Judge: Alabama has been ‘indifferent’ to isolated inmates
A federal judge said Monday that Alabama has been “deliberately indifferent” about monitoring the mental health of state inmates placed in the isolation of segregation cells. U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson issued the ruling days after attorneys for inmates said the suicide rate in state prisons has reached a crisis level. “The court finds that the (Alabama prison system’s) failure to provide adequate periodic mental-health assessments of prisoners in segregation creates a substantial risk of serious harm for those prisoners,” Thompson wrote in the 66-page order. Thompson wrote that prison officials have been “deliberately indifferent with regard to their failure to provide adequate periodic evaluations of mental health to prisoners in segregation.” Alabama Department of Corrections spokesman Bob Horton said the department is reviewing the decision. Thompson in 2017 wrote that mental health care in state prisons was “horrendously inadequate” and violated the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment. In his Monday order, Thompson said the failure to adequately monitor inmates in segregation contributes to the unconstitutional conditions. Thompson directed the prison system and attorneys for inmates to confer on how to proceed. The Southern Poverty Law Center, which is representing inmates in the ongoing class-action lawsuit over prison mental health care, praised the decision. “It has been evident for years that ADOC has failed to identify, monitor, and properly care for people who have serious mental illnesses and who develop them in ADOC custody. That systematic failure has led to needless suffering, especially for people in segregation,” said Maria Morris, senior supervising attorney at the SPLC. The advocacy organization said Friday that there have been 13 suicides in 14 months. “People are killing themselves in our prisons because conditions are horrendous,” Southern Poverty Law Center President Richard Cohen said at a news conference with the families of inmates. The prison system said in a response Friday that it was working to address the issue, and said the suicide spike “calls into question the long-term effectiveness of the suicide prevention measures proposed by the SPLC” during the litigation. Republished with permission from the Associated Press
Advocacy group: Alabama has prison suicide crisis
An advocacy group charged Friday that Alabama officials have failed to address a rising suicide rate in state prisons despite a federal court order to improve conditions for mentally ill inmates. Attorneys representing inmates in an ongoing lawsuit over mental health care argued state officials have done “precious little” to address inmate suicides. “People are killing themselves in our prisons because conditions are horrendous,” Southern Poverty Law Center President Richard Cohen said at a news conference outside the Alabama Statehouse. The organization said there have been 13 suicides in 14 months, the latest one on Wednesday. Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey’s office and the prison system did not immediately react to the allegations. A prison system spokesman said the department was working on a response. However, a state lawmaker said the prison system is working to improve conditions, but cautioned it will take time. “There is no question the suicide rate is higher than it should be. The data speaks for itself,” said state Sen. Cam Ward, who chairs a prison oversight committee. Alabama Department of Corrections monthly reports list that they were four inmate suicides in fiscal year 2017 and six in 2018. In late December and January, there were three suicides within four weeks in the state prisons. With their 8-year-old granddaughter beside her, Jerri Ford wiped away tears as she described the loss of her husband, Paul Ford. “He was our everything, everything and we don’t have him anymore. And it’s not right,” Jerri Ford said. Paul Ford, 49, was found hanging last month from a bed sheet in his cell at Kilby Correctional Facility. He was serving a sentence of life in prison without parole following a murder conviction. In court filings, the SPLC said, Ford had a prior suicide attempt and spent much of the past year in a restrictive setting or on some form of crisis watch. Jerri Ford said in the months before his death, she began to worry about her husband’s mental state. “He was seeing things, hallucinating. … He was scared to go to sleep,” she said. Inmate lawyers have asked a federal judge to block the state from placing prisoners with serious mental illnesses into segregation units or similar settings, where they said the extreme isolation becomes an incubator for worsening mental health symptoms. The judge responded by asking for the state to provide information on how many inmates are in such settings. U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson in 2017 ruled that mental health care in Alabama prisons was “horrendously inadequate.” In court filings, the state contends it has added mental health staff and is working to increase the number of corrections officers working in state prisons. Corrections Commissioner Jeff Dunn told lawmakers last month that the department is seeking a funding increase to hire 500 additional corrections officers, what he called a “down payment” amid plans to eventually add 2,000 correctional officers Ivey is expected to announce a proposal soon to replace state prisons, possibly leasing facilities built by private firms. The SPLC criticized the push for prison construction, saying the plan will be costly when the state faces a staff shortage. “Jamming thousands of people into some shiny new building will not solve the constitutional violations,” Maria Morris, an attorney with the SPLC, said. Republished with permission from the Associated Press
Supreme Court: Execution of Muslim inmate can proceed
he U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday rejected claims from a Muslim inmate who said his religious rights were being violated, clearing the way for the lethal injection to go forward Thursday night. In a 5-4 decision, justices vacated a stay issued by a lower court that had been blocking the execution of Dominique Ray, 42. Ray argued Alabama’s execution procedure favors Christian inmates because a Christian chaplain employed by the prison typically remains in the execution chamber during a lethal injection, but the state would not let his imam be present. Justice Elena Kagan wrote in a dissent that the dissenting justice considered the decision to let the execution go forward “profoundly wrong.” Attorneys for the state said Ray had ample opportunity to visit with his imam before his scheduled execution, that only prison employees are allowed in the chamber for security reasons, and that the imam can visit him before he’s led to the execution chamber and witness the execution from an adjoining room. Prison system spokesman Bob Horton said Ray was visited by his imam both Wednesday and Thursday and that Ray again renewed a request to have the adviser present — the request that has been denied. Other states generally allow spiritual advisers to accompany condemned inmates up to the execution chamber but not into it, said Robert Dunham, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, which studies capital punishment in the United States. Durham said did not know of any other state where the execution protocol calls for a Christian chaplain to be present in the execution chamber. Ray was sentenced to death for the slaying of 15-year-old Tiffany Harville. The girl disappeared from her Selma home in July 1995, and her decomposing body was found in a cotton field a month later. Ray was convicted in 1999 after another man, Marcus Owden, confessed to his role in the crime and implicated Ray. Owden told police that they had picked the girl up for a night out on the town and then raped her. Owden said that Ray cut the girl’s throat. Owden pleaded guilty to murder, testified against Ray and is serving a life sentence without parole. A jury recommended the death penalty for Ray by an 11-1 vote. Ray’s attorneys had also asked in legal filings to stay the execution on other grounds. Lawyers say it was not disclosed to the defense team that records from a state psychiatric facility suggested Owden suffered from schizophrenia and delusions. The Supreme Court also rejected that claim Thursday. Republished with permission from the Associated Press
Appeals court blocks Alabama execution of Muslim inmate
A federal appeals court on Wednesday blocked the planned execution of an Alabama inmate to consider whether the state was violating the Muslim inmate’s rights by not allowing an imam to replace a Christian prison chaplain in the death chamber. Alabama may be violating the religious rights of a Muslim inmate set for execution Thursday by refusing to allow an imam present at his death, a federal court said Wednesday in blocking the lethal injection. The 11th U.S Circuit Court of Appeals granted a stay for Dominique Ray, 42, a day before his scheduled execution for the slaying of a teenager more than two decades ago. The state is still pushing for the execution to take place Thursday, though, and swiftly changed its execution protocol in response to the judges’ concerns. The Alabama attorney general’s office on Wednesday afternoon asked the U.S. Supreme Court to vacate the stay. Ray objected to Alabama’s practice of allowing a Christian prison chaplain, who is a prison system employee, to stand near the inmate during the lethal injection and to pray with the inmate if the inmate requests that. Ray asked to bring in his imam to stand near him during the procedure, but was told he could not because only prison employees were allowed in the execution chamber. A three-judge panel of judges wrote that it was “exceedingly loath to substitute our judgment on prison procedures.” But, they added that it “looks substantially likely to us that Alabama has run afoul of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.” “The central constitutional problem here is that the state has regularly placed a Christian cleric in the execution room to minister to the needs of Christian inmates, but has refused to provide the same benefit to a devout Muslim and all other non-Christians,” the three-judge panel wrote. The Alabama chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations said it supported Ray’s bid to have an Islamic leader present. “We welcome this decision and hope Mr. Ray will ultimately be provided equal access to spiritual guidance,” Ali Massoud, government affairs coordinator for CAIR-Alabama, said in a statement. In the request to vacate the stay, the Alabama attorney general’s office said as a result of the 11th Circuit order, the state has amended its lethal injection protocol so that the chaplain will no longer be present. State attorneys said inmates can have their spiritual adviser witness the execution from a room adjoining the execution chamber. Robert Dunham, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, which studies capital punishment in the U.S., said other states generally allow spiritual or religious advisers to accompany the inmate up to the execution chamber but not into it. Instead the adviser can view the execution, as do others, from a designated area. He did not know of any other states where the execution protocol calls for a Christian chaplain to be present in the execution chamber. Ray was convicted in the fatal stabbing of a 15-year-old Tiffany Harville. Harville disappeared from her Selma home in July 1995. Her decomposing body was found in a field a month later. Ray was convicted in 1999 after co-defendant Marcus Owden told police that they had picked the girl up for a night out on the town and then raped her. Owden said that Ray cut the girl’s throat. Owden pleaded guilty to murder, testified against Ray and is serving a life sentence without parole. Ray’s legal team on Wednesday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to stay the execution on other grounds. They argued it was not disclosed to the defense team that records from a state psychiatric facility suggested Owden suffered from schizophrenia and delusions. Attorneys asked the Supreme Court to halt the execution to examine whether the state had a duty to find and produce the information. Republished with permission from the Associated Press
Judge says execution can proceed without imam present
A federal judge on Friday ruled that a Muslim inmate’s scheduled lethal injection can proceed next week without an imam present but said Alabama must keep a Christian prison chaplain out of the execution chamber. U.S. District Judge Keith Watkins denied a stay requested by Dominique Ray, 42. Ray is scheduled to be executed Feb. 7 for the 1995 fatal stabbing of 15-year-old Tiffany Harville. Ray says his religious rights are being violated because Alabama has a Christian prison chaplain present at lethal injections, but will not let him have an imam in the room with him as the lethal drugs are administered. Ray’s lawyers argued that he has the same right to religious comfort in his final moments as a Christian inmate. Watkins said for security reasons the state can limit death chamber access to prison employees. The judge ordered the state to keep the prison chaplain out of the death chamber during Ray’s execution. The state already said it was willing to do so. Condemned inmates in Alabama can visit with their spiritual adviser before their execution and have the person witness the procedure through the glass window of an adjoining room. However, only the prison chaplain and a correctional officer are in the room with the inmate during the lethal injection procedure. The chaplain will sometimes kneel and pray with an inmate who is strapped to a gurney. Court records indicate that Ray is appealing. Ray’s lawyers are also seeking a new trial, saying prosecutors did not disclose records that showed a key witness was suffering from symptoms of schizophrenia before he testified against Ray. Harville disappeared from her Selma home in July 1995. Her decomposing body was found in a field a month later. Ray was convicted in 1999 after co-defendant Marcus Owden told police that they had picked the girl up for a night out on the town and then raped her. Owden said Ray cut the girl’s throat and they also took the girl’s purse, which had $6 or $7 in it. Owden pleaded guilty to murder, testified against Ray and is serving a life sentence without parole. Republished with permission from the Associated Press
Donald Trump: NFL people thankful he signed criminal justice bill
President Donald Trump claimed that “a lot of people” from the NFL have been calling and thanking him for signing legislation addressing concerns with the criminal justice system. Trump also said during an interview broadcast Sunday that he and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell have set aside their differences over players kneeling during the national anthem. Trump relentlessly criticized the practice as being disrespectful to the American flag and he faulted Goodell for not doing enough to stop it. Players saw kneeling during the “Star-Spangled Banner” as a prime opportunity to heighten public awareness of how minorities are treated by the criminal justice system. The president pivoted to the new criminal justice law when he was asked if he thought the players who knelt had a point, and whether he was sensitive to their concerns that most victims of police violence are black. Trump said the legislation was the product of years of effort dating to before he took office. “And I got it done and I’ve been, you know, really, a lot of people in the NFL have been calling and thanking me for it,” Trump said in the interview broadcast during CBS’ Super Bowl pre-game show. “They have been calling and thanking, you know, that people have been trying to get that taken care of and it’s now signed into law.” The law gives judges more discretion when sentencing some drug offenders and will boost prisoner rehabilitation. Trump then segued to his stance on kneeling during the anthem, without addressing the original question. “I think that when you want to protest I think that’s great. But I don’t think you do it at the sake of our flag, at the sake of our national anthem. Absolutely,” he said. The White House did not respond to emailed requests for information on which NFL figures have reached out to the president. Asked whether he and Goodell had set aside their differences over kneeling, Trump said: “I think so … You have to respect our flag and our country. I want that as president. And I’d want that as a citizen and I have a very good relationship.” Trump viewed Sunday’s matchup between the New England Patriots and the Los Angeles Rams from the comfort of his private golf club in West Palm Beach. Upon arrival, he and his wife, Melania, were treated to a mini-concert by the Florida Atlantic University Marching Band. Trump said in the interview that he expected the Patriots to win a sixth Lombardi Trophy — and they did, 13-3 — and visit the White House. The team is owned and coached by his friends, Bob Kraft and Bill Belichick, respectively. He credited “great chemistry” for the team’s success. Trump also complained in the interview about the New Orleans Saints’ loss to the Rams in January’s NFC title game. Game officials failed to call interference or roughness penalties when a Rams player delivered a helmet-to-helmet hit on a Saints receiver in the game’s crucial final minutes. The Rams won in overtime, advancing to meet the Patriots at the Super Bowl in Atlanta while the league acknowledged a blown “no-call.” A federal judge later rejected a legal challenge by two Saints ticketholders seeking a do-over playoff game. Trump blamed the outcome on a “bad call.” “It’s a shame that we couldn’t have seen that game finished out, because that was a beautiful pass. And it was a perfect pass. And he was not just interfered with, he was, he was really hit hard,” the president said. “So it’s a shame that that had to happen. Who really knows what would have happened in the end?” He said the Saints would have been in a good position to have won the conference title. “But it is what it is. It was a bad call. I don’t think anybody denies it was a bad call,” Trump said. “Maybe it was a terrible call.” … Follow Darlene Superville on Twitter:https://www.twitter.com/dsupervilleap Republished with permission from the Associated Press
Donald Trump says he’s eager to sign sweeping criminal justice bill
The Senate passed a sweeping criminal justice bill Tuesday that addresses concerns that the nation’s war on drugs had led to the imprisonment of too many Americans for non-violent crimes without adequately preparing them for their return to society. Senate passage of the bill by a vote of 87-12 culminates years of negotiations and gives President Donald Trump a signature policy victory, with the outcome hailed by scores of conservative and liberal advocacy groups. The House is expected to pass the bill this week, sending it to the president’s desk for his signature. The bill gives judges more discretion when sentencing some drug offenders and boosts prisoner rehabilitation efforts. It also reduces the life sentence for some drug offenders with three convictions, or “three strikes,” to 25 years. Another provision would allow about 2,600 federal prisoners sentenced for crack cocaine offenses before August 2010 the opportunity to petition for a reduced penalty. “America is the greatest Country in the world and my job is to fight for ALL citizens, even those who have made mistakes,” Trump tweeted moments after the vote. “This will keep our communities safer, and provide hope and a second chance, to those who earn it. In addition to everything else, billions of dollars will be saved. I look forward to signing this into law!” Trump added. The vote also thrilled Democrats. Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., said the nation’s prisons are full of Americans who are struggling with mental illness and addiction, and who are overwhelmingly poor. He said the nation’s criminal justice system “feeds on certain communities and not on others,” and said the bill represents a step toward “healing” for those communities. “Let’s make no mistake, this legislation, which is one small step, will affect thousands and thousands of lives,” Booker said. When the bill appeared to have stalled in recent weeks, Sen. Charles Grassley, the Republican chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, pleaded with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to bring it up for a vote. With Trump’s urging, McConnell eventually agreed, and voted for the bill as well. “The First Step Act takes lessons from history and from states — our laboratories of democracy — to reduce crime, save taxpayer dollars and strengthen faith and fairness in our criminal justice system,” Grassley said. The Senate turned back three amendments Tuesday from Republican senators Tom Cotton of Arkansas and John Kennedy of Louisiana, who said the bill endangered public safety. Supporters voiced concerns that passing any of the amendments would have sunk the bill. One amendment would have excluded more prisoners from participating in educational and training programs that allow them to earn credits. Those credits can then be used to gain an earlier release to a halfway house or home confinement to finish out their sentence. Another amendment would have required that victims be notified before a prisoner gets that earlier release. The third would have required the Federal Bureau of Prisons to track and report the re-arrest rate for each prisoner who gets early release. “While the bill has marginally improved from earlier versions, I’m disappointed my amendments to exclude child molesters from early release and to protect victims’ rights were not adopted,” Cotton said. “I also remain concerned that reducing sentences for drug traffickers and violent felons is a threat to public safety.” Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said the bill already carves out some 60 different crimes that make prisoners ineligible for early release to a halfway house or home confinement. He said Cotton’s amendment was too expansive and would prevent at least 30,000 prisoners from participation. Durbin said the Federal Bureau of Prisons also gives victims the opportunity to be notified upon a change in the prisoner’s status, but it’s a choice. He said about 10 percent of victims choose not to be notified because of the trauma involved in revisiting the crime. Meanwhile, the amendment from Cotton and Kennedy would make it a requirement. “Supporting the Cotton amendment is basically saying to these crime victims, ‘We’re going to force this information on you whether it’s in the best interest of your family, whether you want it or not,’” Durbin said. “That is not respectful of crime victims.” The bill would affect only federal prisoners, who make up less than 10 percent of the country’s prison population. An array of liberal and conservative advocacy groups rallied in support of the bill. For example, the Koch brothers-backed group, Americans for Prosperity, applauded senators for putting “policy ahead of politics.” The American Civil Liberties Union said the bill was “by no means perfect. But we are in the midst of a mass incarceration crisis, and the time to act is now.” Law enforcement groups were more split. It was backed by the Fraternal Order of Police and the International Association of Chiefs of Police but opposed by the National Sheriff’s Association. The union representing federal prison guards also joined in supporting the measure. Republished with permission from the Associated Press.
Mitch McConnell blocks sentencing bill, upsetting Chuck Grassley, GOP
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell‘s reluctance to hold a vote on a popular criminal justice bill has angered top Republican senators and created an unusual rift with a longtime GOP ally, Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa. Grassley has spent years working to build a coalition around the bill and is pushing for a year-end vote. Grassley says more than two-thirds of the Senate supports it. But McConnell is refusing to bring the legislation forward in a standoff that’s dividing the Republican majority and putting President Donald Trump on the spot. “We’ve done what needs to be done,” Grassley said about the overwhelming support for the bill. “So what’s holding it up?” For the 85-year-old chairman of the Judiciary Committee, this is not the way Senate is supposed to operate. Grassley was expecting some deference from McConnell after delivering on Trump’s judicial nominees — including two now on the Supreme Court. Trump backs the criminal justice bill, too, but McConnell says it’s divisive. His reluctance to take up Grassley’s priority shows the limits of the Senate’s old-fashioned customs in an era of heightened partisan politics. “What’s so irritating about this is, first of all, he and I have been hand-in-glove working to get the judiciary vacancies filled,” Grassley told Iowa reporters. “I think I ought to have some consideration for delivering on tough Supreme Court nominees, and a lot of tough circuit court nominees and maybe even once in a while you get a tough district court nominee,” Grassley went on. On Friday, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., intervened, talking directly to Trump about attaching the criminal justice legislation to the must-pass year-end spending bill, which is already tangled in a separate fight over funds for the border wall with Mexico. “Just talked with President,” Graham tweeted. “He strongly believes criminal justice reform bill must pass now. He also indicated he supports putting criminal justice reform bill on year-end spending bill which must include MORE wall funding.” Trump has called senators about the bill and spoke briefly about it Friday at an event on safe neighborhoods in Kansas City. The bill is a project of Trump’s son-in-law, White House adviser Jared Kushner, and would be the biggest sentencing overhaul in decades. It would reduce mandatory prison terms for certain drug crimes and give judges in some cases more discretion on punishments. It would allow about 2,600 federal prisoners sentenced for crack cocaine offenses before August 2010 the opportunity to petition for a reduced penalty. It also includes provisions to encourage education and workforce training in prisons. Roughly 90 percent of prison inmates are held in state facilities and would not be affected by the legislation. While Kushner has been meeting with senators on Capitol Hill, Trump is also hearing from allies who are against the legislation. Chief among them is Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., who is warning senators that Republicans will be blamed if criminals are released and commit new crimes. “Only thing worse than early release from prison of thousands of serious, violent, & repeat felons is to do that in a spending bill with no debate or amendments, forcing senators to either shut down government or let felons out of prison,” Cotton tweeted Friday. The spending bill will need approval by Dec. 21 to avoid a funding lapse days before Christmas. “If the jailbreak bill gets stuck in the spending bill, everyone bring your stockings to the Senate, because we’ll be there on Christmas!” Cotton and others, including Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, No. 2 Senate Republican, insist there is not as much support for the bill as Grassley claims. Cotton says senators may tell the chairman they’re in favor of it when actually they’re not. The bill has support from several conservative and liberal advocacy groups, uniting such disparate partners as the influential Koch network and the American Civil Liberty Union, but it splits law enforcement groups. It is backed by the Fraternal Order of Police and the International Association of Chiefs of Police but opposed by the National Sheriff’s Association. Amid this divide, McConnell has been choosing caution, saying there’s just not enough time to push the bill forward in the remaining days of the Congress. “The question is, can you shoe-horn something that’s extremely controversial into the remaining time?” he said Monday in an interview at a Wall Street Journal forum. Criminal justice reform has traditionally been a Democratic priority, as Republicans prefer a more tough-on-crime approach. And McConnell acknowledges it’s “extremely divisive” among Senate Republicans. Leaders tend to protect senators from taking tough votes that could have political blowback. “I don’t see from a timing standpoint how we get it done in the short amount of time we have to work with, but everyone is trying to keep their options open and not foreclose the possibility it could happen,” said Sen. John Thune, the third-ranking Senate Republican. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., said Thursday that bill backers are making a last-push to attach it to the spending measure and picking up new supporters. But he acknowledged the package’s chances are slipping with each passing day. “We’re still lobbying Sen. McConnell — he has all the power to allow it or not allow it,” said Paul. McConnell and Grassley have worked side by side for decades. When then-President Barack Obama nominated Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court in early 2016, Grassley stood by McConnell’s decision to keep the seat open during the election year for the new president to decide. He’s ushered in 84 Trump judicial nominees, including a record number of circuit court judges. But their split over criminal justice reform is testing not just their partnership but also the longstanding norms of the Senate. “What’s holding it up is our leader, the majority leader,” Grassley said. “There’s no reason it shouldn’t come up.” Republished with permission from the Associated Press.
Alabama editorial roundup: Oct. 18, 2018 edition
Recent editorials from Alabama newspapers: ___ Oct. 16 Dothan Eagle on Alabama’s criminal justice system: How is Alabama’s criminal justice system like health care costs or airline ticketing? With all three, nothing is what it seems. Because of the complexities of insurance reimbursements, a medical procedure may be charged at $20,000, but a hospital may wind up discounting the procedure steeply, and wind up with a fraction of the original amount. There may be hundreds of dollars’ difference in an airline ticket from Point A to Point B from one day to the next, or even one hour to the next. In Alabama, a 20-year prison sentence may translate to a fraction of that sentence in lock-up, and that’s nothing new. Bill Pryor sent a package of sentencing reform bills to the Alabama Legislature when he served as state attorney general — 20 years ago. There are many reasons for this, not the least of which is the chronic overcrowding in Alabama prisons. This week, Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey took a different approach to truth in sentencing, putting a 75-day moratorium on early paroles and replacing the chairman of the state Board of Pardons and Paroles. That’s welcome news for the public, particularly the victims of crime who are left wringing their hands in frustration when their offender is put back on the street after serving a mere fraction of a sentence. The public deserves to feel secure that the state will uphold the complete term of sentencing for those convicted of violating the laws of our society. However, the move will likely exacerbate prison overcrowding and the state’s ongoing challenge to maintain adequate staffing and mental health services for inmates. A more restrictive parole system is beneficial, but Alabama needs prison reform as well as sentencing reform. Until we reassess what sort of offender goes into the prison system and for how long, our corrections system will surpass its already critical state. Online: https://www.dothaneagle.com/ ___ Oct. 11 Opelika-Auburn News on the impact of a good or bad education system: Two reports in recent days regarding the U.S. Air Force’s presence in Alabama served up poignant reminders that a good or bad education system’s influence extends far beyond classroom walls. One of them wasn’t much a surprise. Macon County’s bid with the T-100 project to host the massive Leonardo company construction site and winning bid for the Air Force’s next trainer jet was seen from the beginning as a long-shot effort against aviation giants Boeing and Lockheed Martin. Still, one of the factors weighed in determining what company would get the contract, and where, no doubt focused on the available workforce, and thus the skill level and education of that workforce. More than 750 direct jobs and countless other support jobs were tied to the project. Plans were in the works to provide mobile classrooms and other necessary arrangements for, pardon the bad pun, crash-course training and education. Was Alabama ready to provide such, in adequate fashion? Were enough educated job seekers in the local market to fill the needs? We’d like to think yes. But again, education is an important influencer. Boeing won the contract. Then came the report out of Montgomery concerning the disenchantment Air Force officials have with that city’s school system and the impact it has on luring families to Alabama with incoming personnel stationed or studying at Maxwell Air Force Base. Lt. Gen. Anthony Cotton, commander of Air University and Staff College at Maxwell, told the Montgomery Advertiser that the state of schools in Montgomery is putting a strain on his job, with airmen arriving on base alone, without their families, and with faculty members reluctant to accept positions at the base. More than half of the airmen in last year’s Air War College came to Montgomery without families, and the poor state of the city’s school system was the biggest reason why. While the education system in the state’s capital city apparently is in shambles, others around the state are having better success. The state as a whole, however, is what normally carries as a reputation nationwide, and when it comes to recruiting new industry and government jobs to fuel Alabama’s economy, education matters in a big way. Montgomery’s problem isn’t just Montgomery’s problem. Alabama as a state must do better, and must do so statewide so that any region of the state can show progress and willingness to make education a priority. Until lawmakers, education officials and supporters up the ante on requiring fixes for problem education systems such as Montgomery’s, look for high-profile job providers such as the United States Air Force turning their attention somewhere else. We cannot afford that. Go to school. Fix the school. Promote the school. Online: https://www.oanow.com/ ___ Oct. 12 Fort Payne Times Journal on mammograms: Ladies, and gentlemen, we have to be proactive when it comes to our health. Starting at age 45, women should get mammograms every year until they reach age 55. After age 55, women should get tested every two years unless instructed differently by a physician. A mammogram is the most common test for breast cancer. The procedure can detect cysts, breast cancer, lumps and benign tumors before they are even detected by touch. The examination can take between 20 and 30 minutes. A medical gown is worn from the waist up during the procedure. The X-ray technician will place the patient’s breast on top of the X-ray plate while another is placed on top. Compression is needed to get a good visualization of the breast. The procedure is usually pain free with minor discomfort during the compression. A recent study published on breastcancer.org proves that, in 2018, an estimated 266,120 new cases of invasive breast cancer are expected to be diagnosed in women in the U.S., along with 63,960 new cases of non-invasive breast cancer. Don’t wait. Be productive when it comes to your health. Talk to your physician and learn what you can do to make sure you are prepared for
Barack Obama pens law review article on criminal justice challenges
President Barack Obama returned to his roots at the Harvard Law Review on Thursday, penning an article about progress his administration made in reforming the criminal justice system – and the challenges that remain for the next administration. His commentary, “The President’s Role in Advancing Criminal Justice Reform,” addresses how presidents can exert influence over the criminal justice system, and how those who serve the president have a responsibility to translate that vision into practical results. “How we treat citizens who make mistakes (even serious mistakes), pay their debt to society, and deserve a second chance reflects who we are as a people and reveals a lot about our character and commitment to our founding principles,” Obama writes. “And how we police our communities and the kinds of problems we ask our criminal justice system to solve can have a profound impact on the extent of trust in law enforcement and significant implications for public safety.” In 1990, Obama was named the Harvard Law Review’s first black president. The review was founded in 1887. Obama writes in the new article that the country cannot afford to spend $80 billion annually on incarceration, to “write off” the 70 million Americans with a criminal record, or to release 600,000 inmates each year without improving the programs that integrate them back into society. “In addition, we cannot deny the legacy of racism that continues to drive inequality in how the justice system is experienced by so many Americans,” he writes. The outgoing president cautions that challenges toward true reform remain, including the passage of bipartisan criminal justice reform legislation, preventing guns from falling into the hands of those who pose a threat, and addressing the nation’s opioid epidemic. He also highlights the need for implementing “critical reforms” to forensic science and argues more technology is needed to enhance trust in and effectiveness of law enforcement. Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
