Approximately 400 inmates are eligible to be released under the law, Cam Ward, executive director of the Alabama Bureau of Pardons and Paroles, said Monday. The Alabama Department of Corrections said in a news release that there will be a rolling release of the remaining eligible inmates as required victim notifications are done.
400 AL INMATES TO BE RELEASED EARLY UNDER A 2021 SENTENCING LAW
The 2021 law, which was approved with broad support, was touted by proponents as a public safety measure designed to make sure inmates are monitored when they leave prison, instead of walking out the door unsupervised when their sentence concludes.
But the measure has drawn criticism from the state attorney general and some district attorneys because it allows inmates, including people convicted of violent crimes such as murder and manslaughter, to leave prison several months early. Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall also argued that required victim notifications had not been done.
Nearly 400 Alabama inmates are eligible to be freed early under a new sentencing law requiring prisoners to be placed under supervised released. About 80 inmates were released with ankle monitors Tuesday.
Republican Rep. Jim Hill, a former circuit judge who sponsored the 2021 legislation, said he believes the measure enhances public safety because inmates will be followed for a period of time, instead of being released from prison unsupervised when their sentences end.
"I see this as an opportunity to follow individuals who have been in prison for a period of time before we completely release them to no supervision whatsoever," Hill said.
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Alabama lawmakers first approved the supervised release requirement in 2015. The 2021 legislation made the requirement retroactive. Ward said this is expected to be the only large scale release as the 2021 law takes effect.
Inmates convicted of sex crimes involving children are not eligible for early release.
Marshall, who spoke against the legislation in 2021, on Monday filed a lawsuit against Corrections Commissioner John Hamm seeking a restraining order to block the release of the inmates until crime victims are notified.
Marshall's office argued in a court filing that at least 50 of the 412 inmates set to be released are serving time for murder or manslaughter and that fewer than 20 victims had been notified as of Friday. In a Monday letter to Marshall, Hamm said the prison system will not release any inmate "until we have ensured compliance with the Act’s victim notice requirement."
Montgomery Circuit Judge Jimmy Pool dismissed the lawsuit based on those assurances.