Advocates Want Lawmakers to End the Habitual Offender Act

 ========= Old Image Removed =========Array
(
    [_wp_attached_file] => Array
        (
            [0] => 2019/10/Feature.jpg
        )

    [_wp_attachment_metadata] => Array
        (
            [0] => a:5:{s:5:"width";i:3607;s:6:"height";i:2030;s:4:"file";s:19:"2019/10/Feature.jpg";s:5:"sizes";a:9:{s:9:"thumbnail";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:19:"Feature-140x140.jpg";s:5:"width";i:140;s:6:"height";i:140;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:6:"medium";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:19:"Feature-336x189.jpg";s:5:"width";i:336;s:6:"height";i:189;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:5:"large";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:19:"Feature-771x434.jpg";s:5:"width";i:771;s:6:"height";i:434;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:9:"wbhm-icon";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:17:"Feature-80x80.jpg";s:5:"width";i:80;s:6:"height";i:80;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:13:"wbhm-featured";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:19:"Feature-600x338.jpg";s:5:"width";i:600;s:6:"height";i:338;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:20:"wbhm-featured-square";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:19:"Feature-300x300.jpg";s:5:"width";i:300;s:6:"height";i:300;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:18:"wbhm-featured-home";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:19:"Feature-553x311.jpg";s:5:"width";i:553;s:6:"height";i:311;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:22:"wbhm-featured-carousel";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:19:"Feature-470x265.jpg";s:5:"width";i:470;s:6:"height";i:265;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:14:"post-thumbnail";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:19:"Feature-125x125.jpg";s:5:"width";i:125;s:6:"height";i:125;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}}s:10:"image_meta";a:11:{s:8:"aperture";i:0;s:6:"credit";s:0:"";s:6:"camera";s:0:"";s:7:"caption";s:0:"";s:17:"created_timestamp";i:0;s:9:"copyright";s:0:"";s:12:"focal_length";i:0;s:3:"iso";i:0;s:13:"shutter_speed";i:0;s:5:"title";s:0:"";s:11:"orientation";i:0;}}
        )

    [_imagify_optimization_level] => Array
        (
            [0] => 0
        )

    [_imagify_status] => Array
        (
            [0] => error
        )

    [_imagify_data] => Array
        (
            [0] => a:2:{s:5:"sizes";a:1:{s:4:"full";a:2:{s:7:"success";b:0;s:5:"error";s:52:"Backup failed: The backup directory is not writable.";}}s:5:"stats";a:3:{s:13:"original_size";i:0;s:14:"optimized_size";i:0;s:7:"percent";i:0;}}
        )

    [_media_credit] => Array
        (
            [0] => Mary Scott Hodgin
        )

    [_navis_media_credit_org] => Array
        (
            [0] =>  WBHM
        )

    [_navis_media_can_distribute] => Array
        (
            [0] => 
        )

)
1662725664 
1570006803

Alvin Kennard was released from Donaldson Correctional Facility about a month ago. Now at his brother’s home in Bessemer, he says he feels good.

“I can go to the shower and shower by myself,” Kennard says, “get myself together and put on me some nice clothes, and I can walk out in the yard and listen to the birds whistle.”

Kennard spent 36 years behind bars. He was locked up when he was 22 years old. He is now 58.

“It’s a wonderful thing to be able to, you know, to acknowledge that… it ain’t like it used to be,” Kennard says.

In January of 1983, Alvin Kennard was armed with a knife when he stole $50.75 from a bakery. According to his attorney, Carla Crowder, Kennard had previously pled guilty to three minor property crimes. Because of that, he was sentenced under Alabama’s Habitual Felony Offender Act, which allows stricter sentences for people convicted of multiple felonies. Crowder says at the time, the mandatory sentence for Kennard’s case was life without the possibility of parole.

In the past 20 years, there have been some changes to the Habitual Offender Act, but because those changes were not retroactive, hundreds of inmates continue to serve sentences of life without parole under previous requirements. Alvin Kennard was only released after a judge took an interest in his case and ordered a new sentencing this summer.

Advocates say lawmakers need to revisit these cases and further reform the Habitual Offender Act. This is part of several policy recommendations recently submitted to Gov. Kay Ivey’s Study Group on Criminal Justice Policy. The group is tasked with developing reform proposals to address Alabama’s violent, overcrowded prisons. It meets again Thursday to hear the latest data on sentencing.

State Senator Cam Ward, a member of the governor’s task force, says the Habitual Offender Act is part of that conversation.

“It’s definitely something that should be reviewed,” Ward says. “Now getting the votes and the legislature to approve that, that’s going to be a challenge.”

Ward says lawmakers typically do not support efforts to reduce sentences, for fear of being seen as soft on crime.  Despite that, advocates are encouraged. They say they will continue to offer suggestions for criminal justice reform and plan to attend all study group meetings in Montgomery.

 

Here they are: The best student podcasts in America

For the 2025 NPR Student Podcast Challenge, we've listened to nearly 2,000 entries from around the U.S., and narrowed them down to 11 middle school and 10 high school finalists.

Musicians keep leaving Spotify in protest of CEO’s defense investments

In the last few months, bands including Hotline TNT and King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard have pulled music from Spotify in a new wave of artist-led protests against the platform.

Trump’s Medicaid cuts will hurt children’s hospitals

The GOP said its overhaul of Medicaid was aimed at reducing fraud and getting more adult beneficiaries to work. Among the likely side effects: fewer services and doctors for treating sick children.

A new Nation’s Report Card shows drops in science, math and reading scores

It's the first Nation's Report Card since the Trump administration began making cuts to the U.S. Education Department. The scores reflect the state of student achievement in early 2024.

Nepal lifts social media ban following protests where police killed 19 people

Nepal's government lifted its ban on social media platforms Tuesday a day after police killed opened fire on mass street protests against the ban, killing 19 people.

Rick Davies, singer and co-founder of Supertramp, has died

The British musician co-founded the rock band Supertramp, which spurred hits like "Give A Little Bit" and "The Logical Song" in the 1970s.

More Front Page Coverage