Connect with us

Alabama

Takeaways from The Associated Press' reporting on prison labor in Alabama

Published

on

Takeaways from The Associated Press' reporting on prison labor in Alabama


DADEVILLE, Ala. — No state has a longer, more profit-driven history of contracting prisoners out to private companies than Alabama. With a sprawling labor system that dates back more than 150 years — including the brutal convict leasing era that replaced slavery — it has constructed a template for the commercialization of mass incarceration.

Best Western, Bama Budweiser and Burger King are among the more than 500 businesses to lease incarcerated workers from one of the most violent, overcrowded and unruly prison systems in the U.S. in the past five years alone, The Associated Press found as part of a two-year investigation into prison labor. The cheap, reliable labor force has generated more than $250 million for the state since 2000 — money garnished from prisoners’ paychecks.

Here are highlights from the AP’s reporting:

Where are the jobs and what do they pay?

Most jobs are inside facilities, where the state’s inmates — who are disproportionately Black — can be sentenced to hard labor and forced to work for free doing everything from mopping floors to laundry. But in the past five years alone, more than 10,000 inmates have logged a combined 17 million work hours outside Alabama’s prison walls, for entities like city and county governments and businesses that range from major car-part manufacturers and meat-processing plants to distribution centers for major retailers like Walmart, the AP determined.

Advertisement

While those working at private companies can at least earn a little money, they face possible punishment if they refuse, from being denied family visits to being sent to high-security prisons, which are so dangerous that the federal government filed a lawsuit four years ago that remains pending, calling the treatment of prisoners unconstitutional.

Turning down work can jeopardize chances of early release in a state that last year granted parole to only 8% of eligible prisoners — an all-time low, and among the worst rates nationwide — though that number more than doubled this year after public outcry.

What is oversight like for the prisoners?

Unlike many states, those working among the civilian population include men and women with records for violent crimes like murder and assault. Many are serving 15 years or longer.

It’s not unusual for Alabama prisoners to work outside their facilities without any correctional oversight. And in some cases, there is no supervision of any kind, which has led to escapes, often referred to as “walkaways.”

Kelly Betts of the corrections department defended the work programs, calling them crucial to the success of inmates preparing to leave prison. But she acknowledged that even those sentenced to life without the possibility of parole are eligible for so-called work release jobs.

Advertisement

“Each inmate’s situation is unique, and each inmate is evaluated on his or her own record,” Betts said.

Most companies did not respond to requests for comment, Those that did said they had policies against the use of forced labor and prison labor and would investigate.

How much money does this involve?

As part of its investigation, the AP analyzed 20 years of Alabama corrections department monthly statistical reports to calculate the more than $250 million generated for the state since 2000 — money taken in via contracts with private companies and deductions taken out of prisoners’ paychecks.

Reporters also parsed information from more than 83,000 pages of data obtained through a public records request, including the names of inmates involved in Alabama’s work programs. Over the past five years, prisoners were hired by public employers — working at landfills and even the governor’s mansion — and by around at least 500 private companies. That information was cross-referenced with an online state database, detailing the crimes that landed people in prison, their sentences, time served, race and good-time credits earned and revoked.

What do prisoner advocates say?

Few prisoner advocates believe outside jobs should be abolished. In Alabama, for instance, those shifts can offer a reprieve from the excessive violence inside the state’s institutions. Last year, and in the first six months of 2024, an Alabama inmate died behind bars nearly every day, a rate five times the national average.

Advertisement

But advocates say incarcerated workers should be paid fair wages, given the choice to work without threat of punishment, and granted the same workplace rights and protections guaranteed to other Americans.

Prisoners nationwide cannot organize, protest or strike for better conditions. They also aren’t typically classified as employees, whether they’re working inside correctional facilities or for outside businesses through prison contracts or work release programs. And unless they are able to prove “willful negligence,” it is almost impossible to successfully sue when incarcerated workers are hurt or killed.

____

AP data journalists Arushi Gupta and Larry Fenn contributed to this report.

___

Advertisement

The Associated Press receives support from the Public Welfare Foundation for reporting focused on criminal justice. This story also was supported by Columbia University’s Ira A. Lipman Center for Journalism and Civil and Human Rights in conjunction with Arnold Ventures. The AP is solely responsible for all content.



Source link

Alabama

Southern 88-85 Alabama A&M (Mar 5, 2026) Game Recap – ESPN

Published

on

Southern 88-85 Alabama A&M (Mar 5, 2026) Game Recap – ESPN


HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — — Terrance Dixon Jr.’s 19 points helped Southern defeat Alabama A&M 88-85 on Thursday.

Dixon shot 7 of 10 from the field and 5 of 6 from the free-throw line for the Jaguars (15-16, 11-7 Southwestern Athletic Conference). Michael Jacobs scored 15 points while going 4 of 11 and 7 of 9 from the free-throw line, and added five rebounds. AJ Barnes shot 3 for 7 (1 for 3 from 3-point range) and 7 of 8 from the free-throw line to finish with 14 points, while adding six rebounds.

Koron Davis finished with 23 points for the Bulldogs (17-14, 10-8). James Graham added 19 points, 12 rebounds, four assists and two steals for Alabama A&M. Kintavious Dozier also had 12 points.

The Jaguars led by 10 points with 59 seconds to go, before the Bulldogs executed a three-point play from Bilal Abdur-Rahim then got a 3-pointer from Dozier in the span of nine seconds, cutting the deficit to four. A free throw battle closed out the result for the Jaguars.

Advertisement

——

The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.



Source link

Continue Reading

Alabama

Top-30 overall recruit Jaxon Richardson commits to Alabama

Published

on

Top-30 overall recruit Jaxon Richardson commits to Alabama


Jaxon Richardson, the No. 27 overall recruit in the 2026 class per the Rivals Industry Ranking, has committed to Alabama.

The 6-foot-6 four-star small forward out of Southeastern Prep (FL) ultimately chose the Crimson Tide over USC, Creighton, and Ole Miss. He also received offers from Miami, Cincinnati, Michigan, Florida, Villanova, and others.

Richardson, a McDonald’s All-American, becomes the Crimson Tide’s third commitment of the 2026 cycle. He joins four-star shooting guard Qayden Samuels (No. 28 NATL) and four-star small forward Tarris Bouie (No. 54 NATL).

He’s the son of NBA veteran and two-time NBA Dunk Contest champion Jason Richardson. His older brother, Jase, played for Michigan State last season before being selected 25th overall in the 2025 NBA Draft by the Orlando Magic.

Advertisement

More on Richardson

Rivals’ National Recruiting Analyst Jamie Shaw says Richardson is one of the most explosive players in the 2026 class:

Jaxon Richardson is able to combine fluid athleticism with explosive burst in a way no other player in this class can. He uses his athleticism to his advantage on the floor. He fills the outside channels with a purpose in transition, he is aggressive in the passing lanes, and he plays as a vertical floor spacer in the dunker spots and lob plays. Last summer, playing with the Florida Rebels on Nike’s EYBL Circuit, the 6-foot-6 wing averaged 12.8 points on 54.0 percent shooting and 10.5 attempts per game. Last high school season, he averaged 12.9 points on 61.0 percent shooting on 8.9 attempts per game. He is a highly efficient player, as 84.4 percent of his makes last high school season were at the rim.



Source link

Continue Reading

Alabama

Alabama Baseball Ties Stolen Base Record In Win Over Hornets

Published

on

Alabama Baseball Ties Stolen Base Record In Win Over Hornets


Alabama baseball cruised to a win over Alabama State on Wednesday night, beating the Hornets 13-4 to complete the season sweep. The Crimson Tide tied a program record with nine stolen bases in one of the stranger contests that will be played this season.

The tone was set for a tumultuous night on the basepaths in the opening minutes of the game. Leadoff batter Bryce Fowler, who exited Tuesday’s game after getting beaned in the head, was walked, and promptly took second base. He advanced to third on a wild pitch in Justin Lebron’s at-bat, paving the way for Lebron to steal second when he was ultimately walked as well.

The successful baserunning instantly paid off, as Brady Neal drove both in with a double to left-center field before John Lemm walked two at-bats later. Both runners stole their respective bases on the same pitch in Jason Torres’ plate appearance, meaning that four of the first five batters of the game stole a base.

Advertisement

Alabama has been exceptional on the basepaths, sitting at 30-for-30 on the season. Lebron, who swiped two bags on Wednesday, leads the team with 12. The junior had an up-and-down night, hitting his eighth home run of the season, but also committing an error at shortstop for the fourth consecutive game.

Advertisement

“Get those things out of there now, baby. The dude is unbelievable,” an unconcerned Rob Vaughn said on Tuesday of Lebron’s errors. “We’re going to look up at the end of the year, and that guy is going to have five or six errors, which one he’s got right now, and we’ll be like, ‘Man, that guy is the best of all time to do it.’”

Wednesday’s game was a very prototypical midweek contest with no shortage of quirks and oddities throughout its nearly four-hour runtime. Fifteen Alabama batters were walked, falling just one shy of the program record, and the hit by pitch record was tied as seven batters were plunked.

The game was never competitive from an on-field standpoint. After barely escaping with a 2-1 win in the first matchup with the Hornets two weeks ago, this was a far more accurate representation of what these games typically look like, as Alabama now leads the all-time series 15-0.

Freshman Joe Chiarodo made his first career start, allowing two hits and one walk over two scoreless innings. He was named the winning pitcher. Luke Smyers, Connor Lehman, Anthony Pesci and Tate Robertson were the other pitchers to take the mound. Lehman allowed a three-run blast in the sixth inning, and those were the only runs until the incredibly-named Skywalker Mann drove in a run off Robertson in the ninth.

Advertisement

Perhaps the most shocking figure from the game was that Alabama had 19 runners left on base. The Crimson Tide left the bases loaded in four different innings. As stated, this was just a bizarre baseball game across the board. With the midweeks out of the way, the Crimson Tide gets to prepare for its final weekend tune-up before SEC play as North Florida heads into Tuscaloosa on Friday.



Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading
Advertisement

Trending