Kay Ivey on Crime

	Kay Ivey on Crime

Rehabilitate prisoners; don't just warehouse them

The governor also addressed the recent failure of her prison plan to get the financing it needed to move forward. She said she's now ready to sit down with lawmakers and work out a deal. "Prisons have been in ill repair for decades. They are long past serving their time. So have got to build new prisons and start rehabilitating our prisoners and not just warehousing them," Ivey said. Source: CBS42 AL News on 2022 Alabama Gubernatorial race , Jun 2, 2021

New modern prisons will improve conditions, rehabilitation

The cornerstone of our ongoing efforts is the Alabama Prison Program--a bold undertaking to replace the state's aging and failing prison infrastructure with safe, new, sustainable and affordable men's prisons. Not only will these modern facilities improve prison conditions and safety for both staff and inmates, they will also be designed to accommodate inmate rehabilitation. Rehabilitated inmates are much less likely to reoffend and much more likely to become productive members of society. Source: 2021 State of the State Address to the Alabama legislature , Feb 2, 2021

Build three new prisons, but focus on rehabilitation

Work is well underway in addressing our antiquated and crumbling prison infrastructure. Some of our worst, most over-crowded facilities--one of which was built more than 90 years ago -- were never designed for the number of violent offenders we have today. That is why I tasked Commissioner Dunn to spearhead the efforts to build three new prisons that will transition our facilities from warehousing inmates to rehabilitating people. Source: 2020 Alabama State of the State address , Feb 4, 2020

Chemical castration for sex offenses against children

Gov. Kay Ivey this afternoon signed into law a bill to require sex offenders whose victims are younger than 13 to undergo "chemical castration treatment" as a condition of parole. The treatment consists of taking a medication to suppress or block the production of testosterone.

Other states have passed similar laws, including California and Florida in the 1990s. The Alabama chemical castration law says sex offenders will have to take "medroxyprogesterone acetate treatment or its chemical equivalent, that, among other things, reduces, inhibits, or blocks the production of testosterone, hormones, or other chemicals in a person's body." The law requires the treatment to begin at least one month before a parolee is released.

Legislative Outcome: Passed Senate 27-0-8 on roll call #1423 on May 30; passed House 72-16-16 on roll call #831 on May 21; Signed by Gov. Ivey on June 10.

Source: Birmingham News on Alabama voting records: HB 379 , Jun 10, 2019

More prison staffing and more capital investments in prisons

For far too long, we have neglected the state's prison system. This neglect has created an environment that is overcrowded and understaffed. Our facilities are worn and old. Correctional professionals work diligently to provide security, medical, mental health and rehabilitative services in a challenging environment. They deserve our attention and support. We must also work diligently to provide appropriate, constitutional care to those placed in the custody of the Department of Corrections.

Immediately after taking office, I developed a plan to address correctional staffing, which will improve the delivery of inmate healthcare and make capital investments in our infrastructure. We have commissioned comprehensive reviews to determine the compensation levels necessary to recruit and retain corrections staff. I have [started] developing a master plan, so we will be able to make smart, cost-effective decisions when addressing our outdated prison infrastructure.

Source: 2018 State of the State speech to Alabama legislature , Jan 9, 2018

One death verdict instead of separate sentencing trial

SB 16: Prohibits Judicial Override of Sentencing Decision:

OnTheIssues summary: This bill changes the rules for sentencing criminals in capital cases when sentencing to death versus life imprisonment. The previous rules had a jury trial with an advisory verdict of life or death, and then a separate sentencing trial, where the judge could override the jury's sentence. The new rules allow the defendant to choose a jury trial or a non-jury (judge-based) trial. In either case, the verdict is final.

ACLU opinion: This new law prevents judges from overriding the will of the community by imposing the death penalty when a jury has recommended life imprisonment. While we applaud this change, Alabama is still the only state that does not require a unanimous jury for the death penalty.

Legislative Outcome:Passed House 78-19-2 in roll call #362 on April 16; passed Senate 23-5-0 in roll call #111 on Feb. 23; signed by Gov. Kay Ivey on April 4.

Source: Alabama legislative voting records: SB 16 , Apr 4, 2017

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*Other governors on Crime:*			*Kay Ivey on other issues:*
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