Alabama ACLU Proposes Plan to Cut Mass Incarceration
The American Civil Liberties Union earlier this month announced an ambitious goal of releasing 50 percent of Alabama prisoners by the year 2025 through a report aimed at tackling mass incarceration. These reforms range from addressing state legislation, drug sentencing and racial disparities in sentencing.
Many of the reforms in the ACLU report target laws and policies that send more people to jail and impose long sentences. The report also says for-profit bail systems mean that people who haven’t been convicted for a crime are often locked up because they can’t afford bail. It estimates that more than 70 percent of inmates in Alabama county jails are awaiting trial.
Practices likes these disproportionally affect the poor and people of color, officials with the ACLU say. The ACLU’s report is included in a nationwide project to address mass incarceration. The goal is to have at least 12,500 fewer people in Alabama prisons. That would mean hundreds of millions of dollars freed up to spend on schools and other resources.
Workers at Alabama’s Mercedes plants vote against joining a union
The workers voted 56% against the union, according to tallies released by the National Labor Relations Board, which ran the election.
Taylor Hunnicutt is championing her home state with debut album ‘Alabama Sound’
Alabama offers a diverse symphony of swampy rock, swaggering blues, murky country, and bone-rattling soul. It’s a sound singer-songwriter Taylor Hunnicutt recently reimagined on her debut album, Alabama Sound, which is out now.
UAB building among Alabama’s first to feature ‘bird safe’ glass
Advocates hope the new glass will prevent window collisions, a leading causes of bird mortality.
Researchers look into community health impact of wood pellet production in rural Mississippi
Brown University and Tougaloo College students are testing for potential air and noise pollution near the Drax wood pellet plant in Gloster, Mississippi.
Alabama coal company sued for a home explosion is delinquent on dozens of penalties
Crimson Oak Grove Resources has been cited for 204 safety violations since the March 8 blast, many involving “significant and substantial” safety violations.
The United Auto Workers faces a key test in the South with upcoming vote at Alabama Mercedes plant
The United Auto Workers is aiming for a key victory at Mercedes-Benz in Alabama. More than 5,000 workers at the facility in Vance and nearby battery plant will vote this week on whether to join the UAW.
