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Precursor
to the Alabama Sentencing Commission:
The Judicial Study Commission’s Sentencing Committee
On January 23,
1998, Attorney General Bill Pryor and Chief Justice Perry Hooper,
Sr., created a special committee of the Judicial Study Commission
to study sentencing policies and practices in Alabama. Chief
Justice Hooper and Attorney General Pryor appointed members of the
Sentencing Study committee jointly.
This committee, charged with identifying and studying the
strengths and weaknesses of Alabama’s entire criminal sentencing
system, met during calendar years 1998, 1999 and part of 2000.
During this time, the committee reviewed each area of
Alabama’s criminal sentencing structure, as well as other state
and federal sentencing models.
In conducting its investigation, the committee heard from
local, state, and national experts on current sentencing practices
and reform efforts. This
broad-based group of criminal justice system officials (judges,
defense lawyers, prosecutors, corrections officials, district
attorneys, and law enforcement leaders) and victims’ rights
advocates concluded that significant problems exist within
Alabama’s current sentencing and corrections structure in
Alabama that demand immediate attention.
As a result of their study, the JSC Sentencing Committee
recommended the creation of the Alabama Sentencing Commission as a
separate state agency to serve as a permanent research arm of the
criminal justice system. The
Commission would be responsible for acquiring, analyzing and
reporting necessary information to officials and state agencies
involved in the sentencing process and making specific
recommendations to reform Alabama’s criminal justice system,
with primary emphasis on establishing truth-in-sentencing and
eliminating unwarranted sentencing disparity.
Formation
of the Alabama Sentencing Commission
Pursuant
to the Judicial Study Commission’s recommendations, the Alabama
Legislature passed Act 2000-596, effective May 17, 2000, creating
a permanent Sentencing Commission as a separate state agency under
the Alabama Supreme Court. The
enabling legislation for the Alabama Sentencing Commission
enumerates the Commission’s responsibilities to:
(1) “serve as a clearinghouse for the collection,
preparation, and dissemination of information on sentencing
practices;” (2) “make recommendations to the Governor,
Legislature, Attorney General, and Judicial Study Commission
concerning the enactment of laws relating to criminal offenses,
sentencing, and correctional and probation matters,” and (3)
“review the overcrowding problem in county jails, with
particular emphasis on funding for the county jails and the proper
removal of state prisoners from county jails pursuant to state law
and state and federal court orders, and to make recommendations
for resolution of these issues to the Governor, Legislature,
Attorney General, and the Judicial System Study Commission… .”
From May 17, 2000
until January 2001, members were appointed to serve on the
Commission, the Executive Committee and Commission’s Advisory
Council. With the assistance of the Attorney General’s office
and the Administrative Office of Courts, the Commission continued
to meet during the remainder of the year, consulting with
nationally recognized criminal justice professionals and reviewing
sentencing reform practices in other states which have addressed
similar issues that Alabama is now facing.
In 2000, the Alabama Legislature charged the Alabama
Sentencing Commission to review Alabama's existing sentence
structure, and to recommend to the Legislature and Supreme Court
changes in the criminal code, criminal procedures, and other
aspects of sentencing policies and practices appropriate for the
State of Alabama that best provide for the protection and safety
of Alabama's citizens. The Legislature directed the
Commission to evaluate Alabama's criminal sentencing against
several benchmarks:
- To ensure that sentencing
practices promote public safety and recognize the impact of
crime on victims by concentrating on the incarceration of
violent, sex, and repeat offenders.
- To maintain meaningful judicial
discretion allowing judges the flexibility to individualize
sentences based on the unique circumstances of each case.
- To establish a system where the
time served in prison will bear a close resemblance to the
court imposed sentence.
- To provide for sentencing
alternatives, other than incarceration in prison, for
offenders who can best be supervised and rehabilitated through
more cost-effective means while still protecting the public.
- To assist the executive branch
in avoiding prison overcrowding and premature release of
inmates.
- To ensure that there exists no
unwarranted disparity with respect to sentencing of felony
offenders.
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