Jun. 15—Two Morgan County men were among six Alabamians granted parole last week as parole rates for eligible inmates hovered just over 20% in April and May but were still well below the roughly 80% rate recommend by the parole board’s own guidelines, according to data compiled from the Alabama Bureau of Pardons & Paroles.
“Are those numbers still too low?” asked Jerome Dees, Alabama policy director for the Southern Poverty Law Center. “I think it’s a resounding yes. They are still far, far too low.”
Incarcerated individuals in facilities operated by the Alabama Department of Corrections up for parole in March received it at a rate of 18%, according to ABPP’s most recent monthly statistical report.
Morgan County men Jackie Dale Congo Jr., 44, and Lamont Cortez Bates, 40, were among the chosen few. Congo was serving a 15-year combined sentence after he was charged with possession of meth with intent to distribute while on supervised probation for possessing a firearm as a felon, according to ADOC. He served just over three years of his sentence before he was granted parole.
Bates was serving a 25-year combined sentence for first-degree assault and possession of a controlled substance, according to ADOC. He was granted parole after serving over 12 years of his sentence.
According to guidelines adopted by Alabama’s parole board in 2020, the recommended parole grant rate for March sat at 78%. Still, 18% is an improvement over last fiscal year’s average grant rate of only 8%.
“What we’ve seen over time is that the best data and information for the parole board to be following are the guidelines, and so when we’re seeing rates that are still well below those guidelines, that’s cause for concern,” said Alison Mollman, the ACLU of Alabama’s interim legal director. “That being said, it is encouraging that we’re seeing a better parole rate this year compared to last year.”
While ABPP’s most recent monthly report only runs through March, the Bureau publishes less detailed reports after each parole board hearing. Compiling data from post-hearing reports shows 53 out of 251 eligible inmates were paroled in April for a rate of 21%. Thirty-four out of 149 eligible inmates were paroled in May for a rate of 22.8%.
There can be single-digit discrepancies between ABPP’s data and ADOC’s. For example, ADOC’s March report shows 34 inmates paroled, while ABPP reported 36.
White inmates in March were granted parole at a rate of 23%, almost twice the 12% grant rate for Black inmates, according to ABPP. Guidelines show a recommended grant rate for Black inmates in March at 73%, with 79% recommended for whites. The racial disparity was similar in February, with white inmates granted parole at a rate of 27% compared to Black inmates at 14%.
“When you look at the breakdown for that, as well as the racial disparity breakdown that’s there, I think it’s a clear indication that there are some serious questions as to exactly what metric the board is utilizing to arrive at their ultimate decisions,” Dees said.
ADOC’s most recent data shows a “jurisdictional population” — defined as all individuals sentenced by a court to ADOC, to include those serving time in the custody of other correctional authorities, such as community corrections programs — of 27,208 in March.
Over 53% of that number, or 14,640, are Black, while 45.1%, or 12,270, are white. According to the most recent U.S. Census data, Black people in Alabama only make up 25.8% of the population.
The nonprofit Prison Policy Initiative puts Alabama’s incarceration rate, including jails and juvenile facilities, at 938 per 100,000 people: higher than any democratic country and higher than the nationwide rate of 664 per 100,000 people.
The state is currently building a 4,000-bed mega prison in Elmore County with a price tag of over $1 billion. This construction comes amid a DOJ lawsuit against the state alleging that unsafe prison conditions allowing for prisoner-on-prisoner violence and rape amount to cruel and unusual punishment. The federal trial is scheduled to begin in November.
The DOJ sent a report detailing the “severe” and “systemic” violations of the Eight Amendment rights of Alabama prisoners to Gov. Kay Ivey in 2019, urging her to take corrective measures. Since then, over 1,000 inmates have died in Alabama prisons, according to Alabama Appleseed Center for Law and Justice.
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Risk assessment vs. offense severity
Parole rates were so low in 2023 in part because the three-person board operated for most of the year with a vacancy, according to the ACLU.
“From a procedural standpoint, for a parole application to be granted, it requires two yes votes,” Dees explained. “And given the voting history of the board chair, Leigh Gwathney, who has almost always rendered a no vote, that in essence means that every application is going to be denied.
“With the addition of a third person, that at least increases the possibility of getting to that second vote. If you look at the timeline, there’s a slight increase in grant rates from the time that third member was added.”
Gwathney, a former state prosecutor, was appointed by Ivey to serve as the parole board’s chair in 2019. Darryl Littleton, a former Alabama Law Enforcement Agency state trooper, was appointed to the board in 2021. To fill the vacant seat, Ivey appointed Gabrelle Simmons to the board in August of last year. Simmons was formerly the director of board operations for ABPP.
“What we’ve seen with Gwathney’s tenure is that she almost always votes in line with what her former employer, the Attorney General’s Office, is asking the parole board to do,” said Mollman. “That should raise some level of concern in terms of whether her decisions are being made about what’s best for the safety of Alabama, or if they’re being impacted by her own personal relationships and professional history.”
Prior to Gwathney’s appointment, parole rates had been steadily climbing for years, according to the ACLU. During the months when only Gwathney and Littleton sat on the board, the parole rate was at or below 5%.
Dees said the “offense severity” of eligible inmates seems to be guiding the decisions of the parole board, rather than inmates’ risk assessments. Risk assessments are conducted by institutional parole officers to determine the likelihood that an inmate will reoffend. ABPP’s monthly report breaks out the risk assessment into low, moderate, high and very high categories.
“What we have in Alabama are analyses that allow the board members to make decisions about someone’s likelihood to reoffend and, if we were using those analyses, we would see a much higher parole rate,” said Mollman.
The board’s guidelines recommend that 99% of eligible low-risk inmates be granted parole; however, only 22% of low-risk inmates were granted parole in March, according to data from ABPP. Curiously, a higher percentage of moderate-risk inmates — 23% — were granted parole, below the recommended rate of 75%.
“It seems to defy reason,” said Mollman.
A class action lawsuit filed against ADOC last year alleges low-risk inmates were deliberately being denied parole so that the state could continue to use them for cheap labor.
“Without further guidance, like written explanations from the board as to why and how they’re arriving at their particular conclusions, it seems that, if you look at what the offense severity breakdown is, it more closely aligns to what the ultimate grant rate is for that particular month,” said Dees.
Looking at parole rates based on offense severity — categorized into low/moderate/high — indicates slightly better adherence to guidelines, but not much. Thirty-one percent of low offense severity inmates were granted parole in March, according to ABPP’s data, compared to a 92% recommended rate. Thirty-four percent of medium offense severity inmates were granted parole, compared to a 76% recommended rate. Just 8% of high offense severity inmates were granted parole, far below the 72% recommended rate.
Per the board’s own guidelines, risk assessment should be the greatest indicator of whether an individual can successfully reintegrate back into society, according to Dees.
“That seems to be completely dismissed as a part of their calculations and deliberations,” he said.
Mollman pointed to the hundreds of Alabama prisoners who safely work among the public in work release programs.
“It’s been our position for a long time that if people have low enough risk that they can be safely in our communities to work, those are the type of people the parole board should be granting parole to, but for whatever reason, they’re not,” she said.
Rep. Chris England, D-Tuscaloosa, has for years tried to pass legislation that would increase oversight and transparency of the parole board, to include requiring the board to follow their guidelines and provide written explanations when they deviate. England’s legislation would also provide an avenue for inmates to appeal the board’s decisions. None of his parole efforts passed in this year’s legislative session.
“What’s very concerning about our process is that if and when the parole board is deviating from the parole guidelines, individuals who are incarcerated have no remedy for addressing decisions that are adverse,” said Mollman.
The consequence, according to Mollman and Dees, is hopelessness.
“I’ve seen this firsthand where I had a client who I took up for parole about two years ago,” said Mollman. “He’s never had a write-up in 20 years of incarceration. He’s done every program he could multiple times. He goes up for parole and gets denied.
“For men at the prison who have seen this guy do the right thing … what incentive does that give everyone else to keep their behavior in line?”
Dees said low parole rates ultimately contribute to the poor conditions inside Alabama’s prisons.
“An almost surefire way to ensure that there is going to be violence and issues with the carceral system is to remove any sort of hope from those who are living in there,” he said.
Paroled individuals, because they are still required to submit to a degree of supervision, are more likely to successfully reintegrate back into society and less likely to reoffend compared to inmates who serve out their entire sentence, according to Dees.
“We have continued to go down the road of increasing the number of new crimes and sentencing enhancements and penalties, and that has had little-to-no effect on public safety and recidivism,” said Dees. “However, the times where we have focused on rehabilitative efforts — it has improved outcomes within ADOC and within our communities.
“Even though we didn’t get anything passed in this 2024 Legislative session, it’s our hope that in 2025, the Legislature will take a real look at addressing some of those problems.”
— [email protected] or 256-340-2438.
Amanda Smith is a dedicated U.S. correspondent with a passion for uncovering the stories that shape the nation. With a background in political science, she provides in-depth analysis and insightful commentary on domestic affairs, ensuring readers are well-informed about the latest developments across the United States.
