MONTGOMERY, Ala. — On November 21st, 2022, Alabama Governor Kay Ivey issued a press release halting executions in the state and requested that the Department of Corrections complete a “top-to-bottom review of the state’s execution process.” This moratorium placement included a request to Attorney General Steve Marshall to withdraw pending motions with the Alabama Supreme Court to set executions for Alan Eugene Miller and James Edward Barber. This decision also requested that the Attorney General not seek execution dates for Alabama’s Death Row until this review was complete.
We would like to thank Governor Kay Ivey and the state of Alabama for placing a moratorium on executions and calling for a thorough review of the Department of Corrections’ execution protocol.
The ACLU of Alabama, along with community partners, believe that the death penalty is discriminatory, arbitrary, and inherently violates the Constitutional ban against cruel and unusual punishment. And Alabama’s method of execution, via lethal injection, has been rife with systemic issues and racial bias.
Today, the state of Alabama has recognized its system of capital punishment is broken. Notably, it’s the first time the state has placed an official moratorium on executions since the modern death penalty began in the 1970s.
Alison Mollman, Senior Counsel at the ACLU of Alabama, states: "In a mere six months, we've witnessed three botched executions in Alabama, two of which were called off and one that should not have proceeded. Each of these men were strapped to a gurney for hours, poked and prodded, and had no access to their own attorneys or information about their own execution.”
Executions in Alabama have been notably secretive, rushed, and haphazard. A moratorium and thorough investigation of the execution process is a commendable first step. We hope this can bring forth larger conversations on the need for criminal justice reform and abolishment of the death penalty: a practice that is cruel and unusual, costly, and not demonstrative of the Alabama we are today.
Learn more about the ACLU of Alabama’s work on smart justice and prison reform at:
https://www.alabamasmartjustice.org
