News & Commentary
Legislative Update 2019: Marijuana reclassification bill passes first hurdle
Today is the 12th day of the 2019 legislative season and the session is in full swing. Last week, HB314, passed the House health committee with a favorable report and it now heads to the House floor for debate. The ACLU of Alabama has been out front in opposition to this bill and in last Wednesday’s public hearing Executive Director, Randall Marshall, testified in opposition to HB314 and stated that Alabamians are paying a significant price (millions!) for the state to defend unconstitutional legislation like this bill.
By Dillon Nettles
New Images From an Alabama Prison Reveal Horrific Conditions and Abuse
A trove of photographs depicting brutalized and murdered prisoners in Alabama’s St. Clair Correctional Facility has thrust the treatment of our nation’s 2.3 million incarcerated people into public view. The first horror is what these people have endured in prison. The second horror is that while shocking, it is not a surprise.
By David Fathi
In Alabama, a Muslim Man Was Denied the Presence of His Imam During His Execution
Domineque Ray was pronounced dead last night at 10:12 p.m. Thirty minutes prior, his execution by lethal injection began.
By Brock Boone
An open letter to Danny Carr, Jefferson County's District Attorney
The ACLU of Alabama, Alabama Civic Engagement Coalition, Alabama Justice Initiative, Faith in Action, and Greater Birmingham Ministries came together to engage in your race because the stakes are high for all Jefferson County residents.
In District Attorney Races Across the Nation, Reform Is Still on the Agenda
America has spent the last 50 years becoming the world’s largest incarcerator. It’s gotten there with substantial help from elected local prosecutors, who have used their extraordinary power to lock people up in jails and prisons at unprecedented rates and for unconscionably long amounts of time.
It’s Time to Close a Loophole in the Constitution’s Double Jeopardy Rule
The ACLU and ACLU of Alabama, alongside the Cato Institute and the Constitutional Accountability Center, filed an amicus brief in Gamble v. United States urging the Supreme Court to end the “dual-sovereignty” loophole for good.
By David Cole, Somil Trivedi
Alabama's prisons are at a crossroads
Alabama’s prisons are notoriously some of the worst in the country. They’re violent. They’re underfunded. They’re unable to handle the mental health care needs of those incarcerated. And they’re also overcrowded.
By Rebecca Seung-Bickley
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