How Imprisoned People Forced to Pick Cotton Got ‘Prison Slavery’ Bans on the Ballot On Election Day, voters in Alabama, Louisiana, Oregon, Tennessee, and Vermont will decide whether to close loopholes in their state constitutions allowing the forced labor of incarcerated people. Bryce Covert
Activists Who Helped Elect Birmingham Mayor Balk at Police Expansion Plans Mayor Randall Woodfin is increasing police funding and ignoring calls for non-law enforcement public safety alternatives. Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg
‘Basically Cyberbullying’: How Cops Abuse Social Media to Publicly Humiliate Law enforcement agencies are creating online content, often at the expense of people they have arrested. Hope Corrigan
Birmingham D.A. Says Alabama Man Who Has Spent Over Two Decades on Death Row Should Get New Trial In 1998, Toforest Johnson was sentenced to die for the 1995 shooting death of an off-duty sheriff’s deputy. Now, the city’s district attorney is advocating for a new trial. Lauren Gill
Alabama Reopens ‘Deplorable’ Prison To Quarantine New Prisoners Approximately 100 men will be transported to Draper Correctional Facility, which has long been known for its nightmarish conditions. Lauren Gill
Alabama Officials Executed Nathaniel Woods Despite Claims of Innocence. Then, Against His Religious Beliefs, They Autopsied His Body ‘It was almost like they were going to do whatever they could to demean him and take away his dignity,’ Woods’s spiritual adviser said. Beth Shelburne
Alabama Executes Nathaniel Woods Despite Claims That He Was An ‘Innocent Man’ ‘I think everyone involved— the governor, the attorney general, the DOC commissioner—everyone knew it,’ his lawyer said. Lauren Gill
Justice in America Episode 22: Probation and Parole Josie Duffy Rice and guest host Donovan X. Ramsey talk with LaTonya Tate, executive director and founder of the Alabama Justice Initiative, about probation and parole.
High Cost Of Prison Diversion Programs Leaves ‘Too Many People’ Imprisoned in Alabama A survey of roughly 1,000 people found that 1 in 5 had been turned down for a diversion program because they couldn’t afford the costs of drug tests and monitoring devices. Lauren Gill
Judge Denies ‘Stand Your Ground’ Defense For Alabama Woman Who Killed Her Alleged Rapist Brittany Smith will most likely go to trial, where she faces up to a life sentence. Lauren Gill
‘He Had Already Hurt Me.’ Alabama Woman Argues For ‘Stand Your Ground’ Immunity In Killing of Alleged Rapist Brittany Smith, who has been charged with first-degree murder in the death of a man she says brutally raped her, argued in court this week that she acted in self-defense and should be immune from prosecution. Lauren Gill
The Appeal Podcast: States Turn To Nitrogen Gas For Executions, Despite Serious Concerns With Appeal staff reporter Lauren Gill Adam H. Johnson
Using Nitrogen Gas For Executions Is Untested and Poorly Understood. Three States Plan to Do It Anyway. Oklahoma, Mississippi, and Alabama have all authorized the practice in capital punishment. So what happens now? Lauren Gill
An Alabama Man Faces The Death Penalty For Two Murders. Could The Police Be Involved? In March, Coley McCraney was arrested and charged with capital murder in the 1999 killings of two teenage girls. But his attorneys say he’s innocent, and are now seeking information related to alleged police involvement in the homicides. Lauren Gill
Alabama Sex Offender Registry Is Cruel and Unusual Punishment for Teenagers, Lawsuit Argues Young people convicted as adults face a ‘life sentence’ of registry restrictions, attorneys say. Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg
Hundreds of Alabama Prisoners See Opportunity For Freedom Delayed After Parole Hearings Canceled The parole board failed to comply with a new law about notifying victims, the board’s director said. Lauren Gill
An Alabama Man On Death Row Says He Is Innocent. Will He Get a New Trial? In 1998, prosecutors failed to tell the defense that a key witness in Toforest Johnson’s capital murder trial would receive thousands of dollars in reward money for her testimony, Johnson’s attorneys say. Now a Birmingham judge must decide whether their argument has merit. Lauren Gill
Alabama’s Prisons Are the Most Crowded—If You Look at the Right Data The Bureau of Justice Statistics relies in part on states to self-report prison capacity numbers, which can result in a misleading snapshot of overcrowding in the U.S. Corin Faife
Sentenced to Life Without Parole at 17 and Denied Freedom at 52 Richard Kinder thought he would die in an Alabama prison until the Supreme Court ruled mandatory juvenile life without parole unconstitutional. But last year, despite a judge concluding there was “uncontradicted evidence” that Kinder had worked to rehabilitate himself, the state parole board refused him release. Lauren Gill
In Alabama, Decades-Delayed Justice In A Double Homicide—Or A Brand New Injustice? Police in Ozark said they solved the 1999 murders of two teenage girls using a genealogy database. But Coley McCraney‘s attorneys say that the case against their client is far from certain. Lauren Gill
Spotlight: Departing Alabama Sheriffs Deplete Funds and (Usually) Face No Consequences Sarah Lustbader
An Alabama Woman Got Pregnant While In Jail. She Has No Memory of Having Sex. Since 2017, LaToni Daniel has been incarcerated pretrial in a capital murder case. During that time, Daniel became pregnant, and she just delivered a baby boy. But as she brings in new life, she also faces the death penalty. Lauren Gill
Alabama Prisoners Say They’ve Been Punished For Trying to Reduce Violence A wave of hunger strikes hit Alabama prisons as DOJ released a report calling the facilities “unconstitutional.” Raven Rakia
Alabama Woman Faces Life Sentence For Killing Man Who Allegedly Raped Her In 2018, Brittany Smith killed a man who she said brutally raped her. Smith was charged with murder and she now faces life in prison as well as challenges getting adequate treatment at a state psychiatric hospital. Lauren Gill
Jeff Sessions Left Behind a Record-Breaking Gun Prosecution Machine The program was supposed to target ‘leading’ violent offenders. Today it’s sweeping up low-level, and disproportionately Black, defendants. George Joseph
How Alabama’s Fines and Fees System Preys On The Poor Terrance has been jailed repeatedly over court debt for fishing to feed his family. Maura Ewing
In Alabama, Black People Are 4 Times More Likely Than White People To Be Arrested For Marijuana Possession A new report details Alabama’s “War on Marijuana” ahead of a key DA election. George Joseph
Will Alabama Sheriffs Finally Stop Diverting Jail Food Funds To Their Own Wallets? The governor is making sheriffs sign an oath promising they won't misuse funds meant to feed jail prisoners. But some sheriffs are already pushing back. Lauren Gill
An Alabama Prosecutor Locked Up 4 Black Teens For A Murder They Didn’t Commit. Now He’s Trying 2 More. Two teenagers are facing life without parole sentences for capital murder, though it’s not clear they pulled the trigger. George Joseph
A Grand Jury Indicted An Alabama Police Officer For Murder. Then A Mayor Came To His Defense. Jeffery Parker was shot to death by a police officer in his Huntsville home. A grand jury handed up an indictment for murder, but the mayor and City Council appear to be throwing their support behind the officer. Lauren Gill
Prosecutor Pursues Murder Charge For Woman Who Defended Herself From Abuser Jacqueline Dixon shot her husband to death in Alabama, "Stand Your Ground" state, after she said he charged at her. He had a history of domestic violence. William C. Anderson
Like during the Civil Rights Movement, peaceful NFL protesters have exposed the mean-spirited bigotry of America Shaun King
