Alabama Senate advances bill to allow small fraction of nonviolent offenders resentencing

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — A Republican-led bill that would allow resentencing hearings for people serving life in prison for nonviolent offenses narrowly advanced in the Alabama Senate on Tuesday in a rare demonstration of bipartisanship as nationally both Democrats and Republicans push for tough-on-crime policies.

The legislation, dubbed the “Second Chance Act,” passed 17-8 in the Republican-dominated chamber. It was endorsed by Republican Gov. Kay Ivey, who called it a “common sense reform.” Similar legislation has been introduced in previous years but failed to advance.

Republican Bill Barfoot, the measure’s sponsor, estimates it would affect just 200 of the approximately 20,000 people in Alabama state prisons who were sentenced decades ago under a 1977 habitual offender law that has since been revised.

The bill only applies to those charged before 2000, when a law was passed to give judges more discretion in sentencing. In other words, the change would only affect those who have already served over 25 years in prison for an offense in which no one was physically injured. Barfoot said people sentenced before the reforms might have received a shorter sentence if they were charged with the same crime today.

“We let individuals with much more heinous offenses out under current standards today,” Barfoot said.

Opponents of the bill argued Tuesday that it would be a burden on the courts and give people who were formerly incarcerated the opportunity to reoffend.

Barfoot emphasized that the bill is “not a get out of jail free card.” District attorneys and any victims affected by the initial crime would be able to testify against resentencing during the trial.