Bill would change Alabama’s ‘good time’ law for inmates

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WSFA) - Some state lawmakers want to make it harder for inmates to earn “good time” off their sentence.

Senate Bill 1 and House Bill 9, filed by Senator Arpil Weaver and Representative Russell Bedsole, respectively, would change how much time an inmate could earn off their sentence.

In a January executive order, Governor Kay Ivey created new “good time” guidelines.

Inmates may still earn a deduction from the term of their sentence every 30 days. The bills would reduce the number of days as follows:

The bills would increase the amount of time an inmate would have to be in a certain class before moving to a higher one.

Weaver says she filed the bill in honor of Bibb County Deputy Brad Johnson who was killed by an inmate released on good time.

“They were shot by a felon who had been given early release from prison after earning good time,” said Weaver. “Despite the fact that he had a whole lot of bad behavior. And if he had served his full sentence, as his behavior should have required, he would have been in prison the day that the deputies were shot.”

Even with the executive order in place, Weaver says the bill is important.

“It will ensure that soft-on crime advocates can’t weaken this law later,” she said. “An executive order can be changed with a stroke of the pen and if you have a statute change, it has to be something that the Alabama legislature has to approve.”

Rep. Bedsole is a 25-year law enforcement professional and currently serves as the jail administrator at the Shelby County Jail.

“We want to make sure that the intent of the judicial system the judge that sentenced, the offender is upheld to the closest standard possible and so that when a victim hears that someone who was offended against them gets a sentence, that they’re going to be in prison, and save from that person for the maximum amount of time possible,” said Bedsole.

After the recent inmate work stoppage protest, Representative Chris England, D-Tuscaloosa County, is against this bill.

“This almost seems retaliatory in the sense that now if you exercise your right to peaceful protest we can take your good time away from you,” he said.

“The ACLU of Alabama is opposed to SB 1,” said Dillon Nettles, ACLU of Alabama’s Policy and Advocacy Director. “People traditionally released on ‘good time’ have earned that time, and its existence incentivizes individuals to utilize education and programming opportunities. When death and mistreatment are rampant in Alabama prisons, why propose legislation that does nothing to address the problems at hand? This bill will further entrench our state in the issues pervading Alabama’s overcrowded and unconstitutional prisons. Limiting ‘good time’ is not in the interest of public safety, as the sponsor is purporting.”

Weaver is confident in the support of her legislation. You can read it in its entirety here.

Lawmakers return to the Alabama State House on March 7 for the regular legislative session.

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