In a lengthy article entitled Is Our Court System Perpetuating An Impoverished Class, published January 25, 2019 The Bibb Voice made the following observation; among others:
(“The court system of never ending fines, fees, interest, arrests for failure to appear, failure to pay, suspended driver’s licenses, barriers to employment, and sitting in jail to work off your costs have entrapped an entire class of our society in a never ending battle to survive economically. Many of the impoverished, low income class have dug a hole so deep in the court system they can never hope to climb out.”
This article quoted a number of sources, including a recent hard hitting study by The Alabama Appleseed Foundation that drew a number of conclusions, including the suggestion that people who cannot drive to work because their license has been revoked or suspended, cannot get a job because of their court record, cannot pay their child support or their court fines/fees and end up in jail, lose a job if they had one, then come out with more fines and fees added to their tab, is unfair.
The cries for reform in the Alabama Judicial system have not gone unheard by our Senator Cam Ward. Senator Ward announced today bills that he has introduced to address some of the troublesome areas.
According to Yellowhammer News Ward said as follows:
“For instance, right now there are 783 places in Alabama’s laws and regulations where, if a person has committed a crime, they are forever barred from receiving various occupational licenses. Frankly, this is part of a larger problem where we have way too many layers of bureaucratic licensure requirements, many of which seemed designed to create barriers to entry for aspiring young workers, rather than actually protecting consumers.”
“For people who have served their full sentence, once justice has been done, they should be able to get a job to feed their family, contribute to society, and lessen the chance that they fall back into crime. Senate Bill 163, which the State Senate approved this last week by a 34-0 vote, says that once a person has served their full sentence and paid all restitution, they can petition a judge to obtain an order of limited relief — once obtained, an occupational licensing board or commission is prohibited from automatically denying a certification to someone who has such an order. The board or commission must give the case a fair hearing. This is conservative criminal justice reform that recognizes the dignity of work.”
“Working with Governor Kay Ivey and Attorney General Steve Marshall, I have written a bill that will rein in the Board — if SB42 is approved, all Class A felons (these are rapists, murderers, drug kingpins, and human traffickers) will be ineligible for parole until 85% of their sentence or 15 years has been served. The members of the Board of Pardons and Paroles haven’t abided by their own guidelines. This bill, should it become law, will force them to toe the line.”
“Along similar lines, nearly everyone (especially in rural areas) needs a car or truck to get to work and school. Currently, the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA) can suspend your driver’s license for failure to pay a traffic fine. That’s an especially harsh penalty for single mothers and the many people who are driving between towns to bus tables at lunch and unload freight at warehouses at night to make ends meet. I have filed SB16 to prevent ALEA from suspending drivers’ licenses if a judge has hard evidence that the person in question is indigent. We shouldn’t take away the ability to work from people over a traffic fine.”
Thank you Senator Ward.
Cam Ward represents District 14 in the Alabama State Senate, which includes all or parts of Shelby, Bibb and Chilton counties. He serves as Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Follow him on Twitter: @SenCamWard
