In the News
Follow the coverage of Alabama Appleseed’s work, news mentions and opinion editorials written by staff members. If you’re interested in speaking with Appleseed, please email megan.cheek@alabamaappleseed.org.
Follow the coverage of Alabama Appleseed’s work, news mentions and opinion editorials written by staff members. If you’re interested in speaking with Appleseed, please email megan.cheek@alabamaappleseed.org.
John Archibald | 4/7/2022
People make mistakes. They do.
They run stop signs, sometimes. They go too fast, or fail to use a blinker, or drive down the street with no idea their tag light is out, or too dim, or that anybody anywhere would actually care in the first place.
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According to research by the Alabama Appleseed Center for Law and Justice – and others – people facing mounting traffic debt make desperate decisions in attempts to get their lives back. Eight out of 10 said they skipped rent, groceries, medical bills or car payments to pay their debt. Four out of 10 said they committed crimes – including selling their own bodies – just so they wouldn’t have to look in that rearview mirror all the time.
3/30/2022 | Akiesha Anderson
As policy director for Alabama Appleseed Center for Law & Justice, my work is centered around the intersection of poverty and criminal justice – the criminalization of poverty. As an Alabama native and graduate of the University of Alabama School of Law, I work as a legislative attorney and non-profit lobbyist committed to advocating for legislation that helps everyday Alabamians, especially poor and working-class Alabamians. Since 2020, my colleagues and I have been working to try to get a piece of legislation passed that will end the suspension of driver’s licenses for debt-based reasons.
2/15/2022 | Minhae Shim Roth
In August 2014, Michael Brown, an unarmed 18-year-old Black man, was shot and killed by police in Ferguson, Missouri. Brown’s death caused an uproar about police misconduct in Ferguson and prompted an investigation by the United States Department of Justice in March 2015. That investigation found that the municipal court’s emphasis on revenue generation and its history of racial bias led to the Ferguson Police Department’s aggressive enforcement of municipal code, which compromised public safety, especially for Black residents.
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In places like Alabama, fees and fines serve as an alternative way to fund the state, acting as a “hidden tax,” says Leah Nelson, research director at the Alabama Appleseed Center for Law and Justice and the author of Under Pressure: How Fines and Fees Hurt People, Undermine Public Safety, and Drive Alabama’s Racial Wealth Divide.
2/1/2022 | Leah Nelson and Priya Sarathy Jones
Since news broke in late January of how police in Brookside, Alabama, allegedly were preying on motorists to pay their own salaries, all eyes have been on the hamlet that appears to have turned its police force into a money-making enterprise. Indeed, from 2018 to 2020, the number of police stops soared, and town revenues from fines and fees increased by more than 640%.
Municipal Court Fine Reporting, Fee Revenue Cap Bills Pass Legislature
4/12/2022 | Alabama Daily News
Nothing Costs More than Having No Money
4/7/2022 | AL.com
Driver’s License Suspension Bill Awaits Decision in Final Days of Session
4/5/2022 | Alabama Daily News
UAB Eye Care Provides Services to Previously Incarcerated Men Preparing for Reentry into Society
3/28/2022 | UAB News
Parole Denials Skyrocket in Alabama
3/25/2022 | WAFF
Alabama Medical Cannabis Program Could Roll Out by Spring 2023
3/22/2022 | WIAT
Local Man Turns Life Around After Serving 37 Years in Prison
3/15/2022 | Alabama News Network
The Debt Trap: How Court Debt Widens the Racial Wealth Gap
2/15/2022 | Shelterforce
Alabama Police Department Takes The War on Marijuana to a New Level
1/28/2022 | Forbes
Bill Would End Driver License Suspensions for Traffic Fines
1/28/2022 | Alabama Daily News
Brookside Police Chief Mike Jones Resigns after AL.com Report on Traffic Trap
1/25/2022 | AL.com
Police in This Tiny Alabama Town Suck Drivers into Legal “Black Hole”
1/19/2022 | AL.com
NFL Commercial Highlights Alabama Appleseed
12/17/2021 | Alabama Political Reporter
Alabama Appleseed Featured in New NFL Commercial
12/14/2021 | Alabama Daily News
Dion Dawkins: ‘Any Group that Can Be a Voice for the People Who Don’t Have a Voice is a Good Thing’
12/6/2021 | The Undefeated
‘A Humanitarian Crisis’: Why Alabama Could Lose Control of its Dangerous Prisons
12/1/2021 | Politico
Advocates Suggest Housing Assistance for Those Leaving Prison
11/10/2021 | Alabama Daily News
Alabama Will Spend Nearly 20 Percent of its Federal COVID Relief Money to Build Human Cages
10/9/2021 | Mother Jones
Prison Bill Clears House Committee
9/29/2021 | News 4 WTVY
Ivy Defends Use of Virus Funds for Prison, Bills Advance
9/28/2021 | Associated Press
Commission on Reentry: Further Discussion Needed on Recidivism Definition
8/19/2021 | Alabama Daily News
Payday Lenders Prepare for Less Risky Post-Pandemic Borrowing
8/16/2021 | Bloomberg Law
Nonprofit Asks that Federal COVID Aid Be Used for Re-entry, Prevent Incarceration
7/22/2021 | Alabama Political Reporter
How Do You Make Them Pay? Locked Up in Alabama for Debt
7/12/2021 | AL.com
Alabama Appleseed Featured in NFL Spot
6/30/2021 | Alabama Political Reporter
How Race Shaped the South’s Punitive Approach to Justice
6/28/2021 | The Christian Science Monitor
How Alabama Organizers Blocked Gov. Ivey’s Prison Lease Plan
6/17/2021 | Facing South
Op-Ed: Why is Alabama So Intent on Criminalizing Poverty
3/30/2022 | Yellowhammer News
Op-Ed: Cops Who Prey on Drivers So Their Cities Can Profit
2/1/2022 | CNN Opinion
Op-Ed: It’s Not Too Late for Alabama to Save $100’s of Millions and Cut Crime
1/19/2022 | Comeback Town
Op-Ed: Fewer People Went to Prison. Crime Dropped. Let’s Build on Our Success
7/4/2021 | Alabama Daily News
Op-Ed: With HB129, Lawmakers Have an Opportunity to Pass Business-Friendly Legislation
3/10/2021 | Alabama Daily News
Op-Ed: Worsley Case Shows How System Fails
9/8/2020 | Alabama Daily News
Op-Ed: A Poll Tax by Any Other Name
7/9/2020 | Facing South
Op-Ed: Changes Needed on Funding for Courts, Law Enforcement
5/7/2020 | Alabama Daily News
Op-Ed: Alabama’s Diversion Programs Are In Trouble. We Must Do Better
2/17/2020 | Alabama Daily News
Money for nothing: More prisons and more punishment haven’t made us safer
2/6/2020 | Yellowhammer
Alabama Appleseed Center for Law & Justice
400 South Union Street, Suite 245
Montgomery, Alabama 36104
Phone: (334) 416-8401
2 Office Park Circle, Suite 10
Birmingham, AL 35223
admin@alabamaappleseed.org