By C1 Staff
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — The Justice Reinvestment Act, currently making its way through the Legislature in Alabama, would make sweeping changes to the way the state releases and monitors criminals.
The bill aims to save $407 million over the next six years, while reducing the prison population by more than 4,500, according to AL.com.
Here are some of the ways the bill would radically change parole in the state of Alabama:
Relying on data instead of judgement: The bill would have the probation and parole system incorporate “evidence-based practices” into its daily work, such as analytical tools to predict recidivism and identify tools that would best improve probationer’s and parolee’s chances of succeeding.
Improve supervision: The bill would cap at 20 the number of “high-risk” parolees or probationers assigned to an officer. It also mandates new training for officers by Jan. 1, 2017. The bill would also allow the parole board to end a parole term of the ex-felon demonstrated a low risk and would create rewards for compliance.
Give prisoners more chances: The parole board would be required to explain each approval or denial of parole based on risk-assessment guidelines. Prisoners serving less than 20 years who were denied parole would have to be considered again within a year, and judges must consider probationers for early termination at least once every two years.
Provide more options than revocation: Parole and probation officers would be given flexibility in whether or not they would report parole and probation violations, which wouldn’t send a probationer or parolee back to prison on a technicality like failing a drug test or skipping a meeting. Instead, a range of intermediate sanctions can be imposed.
Quick dips: Those who do violate their terms can be sent back to prison for short terms of two or three days. It would limit the punishment for nonviolent offenders who commit violations of an arrest on a new charge to 45 days in prison. This maximum would apply to two subsequent violations before release would be fully revoked.
The bill passed the Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously last week, but still draws skepticism. Parole board member William Wynne cautioned against trivializing so-called “technical” violations.
“Using and possessing drugs is not a technical violation. That is a new offense,” he said, whether it brings a new criminal charge or not.