Current:Home > MarketsCommittee advances bill to let Alabama inmates speak at parole hearings -ProfitQuest Academy
Committee advances bill to let Alabama inmates speak at parole hearings
View
Date:2025-04-13 10:08:32
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — A legislative committee on Thursday advanced a bill to allow state inmates, for the first time, to speak by phone or video conference at their parole hearings.
The House Judiciary Committee approved the bill after adding an amendment to give victims and law enforcement officials the option to also participate by electronic means instead of driving to Montgomery for the parole hearing.
The bill, which was approved in the Senate without a dissenting vote, now moves to the Alabama House of Representatives to be considered in the final three days of the legislative session.
Alabama is one of two states that do not allow inmates to speak at parole hearings.
“SB 312 gives the incarcerated inmate the ability to participate in the hearing and more importantly, it gives the Parole Board another opportunity or an opportunity to question that inmate,” Republican Sen. Will Barfoot, the bill sponsor, said.
The approval came after earlier disagreements over a proposal that would have weakened the bill by letting the Parole Board decide whether inmates could participate.
Wanda Miller, executive director of VOCAL, a victims advocacy group, said her organization opposes the bill because it believes the current system is adequate. Miller said victim advocacy groups had suggested the amendment to allow victims and law enforcement officials to also speak by phone or video conference.
Barfoot said that will make it easier for victims and law enforcement officials to participate in hearings instead of “driving sometimes three hours to sit through a 10- or 15-minute hearing.”
If approved, the measure would become effective on Oct. 1.
veryGood! (3)
Related
- Off the Grid: Sally breaks down USA TODAY's daily crossword puzzle, Triathlon
- Céline Dion lost control over her muscles amid stiff-person syndrome, her sister says
- Excessive costs force Wisconsin regulators to halt work on groundwater standards for PFAS chemicals
- Regulators approve deal to pay for Georgia Power’s new nuclear reactors
- Meet the volunteers risking their lives to deliver Christmas gifts to children in Haiti
- A dress worn by Princess Diana breaks an auction record at nearly $1.15 million
- France’s government and conservative lawmakers find a compromise on immigration bill
- Thousands rally across Slovakia to protest the government’s plan to amend the penal code
- The Grammy nominee you need to hear: Esperanza Spalding
- China’s earthquake survivors endure frigid temperatures and mourn the dead
Ranking
- North Carolina justices rule for restaurants in COVID
- 5-year-old twin boy and girl found dead in New York City apartment, investigation underway
- Zac Efron and Lily James on the simple gesture that frames the tragedy of the Von Erich wrestlers
- Members of a union representing German train drivers vote for open-ended strikes in bitter dispute
- Juan Soto praise of Mets' future a tough sight for Yankees, but World Series goal remains
- North Korea and Russia clash with US, South Korea and allies over Pyongyang’s latest missile launch
- Climate talks call for a transition away from fossil fuels. Is that enough?
- How to help foreign-born employees improve their English skills? Ask HR
Recommendation
Sonya Massey's father decries possible release of former deputy charged with her death
Court in Germany convicts a man inspired by the Islamic State group of committing 2 knife attacks
UN votes unanimously to start the withdrawal of peacekeepers from Congo by year’s end
Australia and New Zealand leaders seek closer defense ties
Trump invites nearly all federal workers to quit now, get paid through September
South Carolina couple is charged with murder in the 2015 killings of four of their family members
Luke Combs, Post Malone announced as 2024 IndyCar Race Weekend performers
Anthony Edwards is a 'work in progress,' coach says. What we know about text fiasco