Parole Watch Report
The Parole Watch Report was created to provide a bird’s eye view of what is happening at parole hearings in Alabama and to capture data that is not publicly available or easily accessible through public records requests.
Over the last five years, the Alabama Board of Pardons and Paroles (“Parole Board”) has become increasingly punitive and opaque. Even as thousands of incarcerated people are denied parole each year, Alabamians know very little about what happens every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday at parole hearings in Montgomery.
Parole is a type of conditional release from prison for an incarcerated person who has served a portion of his or her prison sentence. And while a parole hearing is an open public meeting in Alabama, incarcerated people can’t be present at their own parole hearings. Instead, those who support or oppose parole are permitted to give comments to the Parole Board.
A three-person Parole Board give its decision to grant or deny parole at the conclusion of the parole hearing based on its review of the parole file and the comments given at the parole hearing by supporters and opposition.
We observed 267 parole hearings in June, July, and August of 2023, here are five things we learned.
A majority of parole applicants assigned to work release facilities were denied parole even though they have been vetted by the Alabama Department of Corrections as people who can safely work in our communities.
One of the central goals of Parole Watch was to test that conclusion and look closely at who is being denied parole in Alabama. To be assigned to a work release facility, an incarcerated person must be classified by the Alabama Department of Corrections (ADOC) as “minimum custody.”
If someone is assigned to a work release facility, they are “not seen as a risk to themselves or others.” Thus, every incarcerated person at a work release facility has been vetted by the State and is not a risk to public safety.
If the Parole Board is truly focused on “public safety” then one would expect those assigned to work release facilities would be considered ideal candidates for parole. However, our team observed 74 parole hearings that involved people assigned to work release facilities and only ten of those were granted parole. In short, 86.5% of Incarcerated people at work release facilities were denied parole.
Leigh Gwathney denied parole more than any other Board member, voting to deny parole in 245 out of 251 parole hearings in June and July, and in every case the Attorney General’s Office voiced opposition.
In August 2023, Gwathney told the Alabama Daily News, “This board is not driven by statistics,” and “I will decide based on every individual that comes in front of me, and whether or not that person can be released without being a danger to public safety.” Gwathney’s term ends in 2025.
2023 began with only two Board Members--Leigh Gwathney and Darryl Littleton--seated and available to conduct parole hearings. From January to March 2023, the parole grant rate was at or below 5%.
When Kim Davidson was appointed to fill a vacant seat and sat for a full month of hearings in April 2023, the grant rate rose and peaked in May 2023 at 17%. From April to June 2023, when Davidson’s tenure ended, the parole grant rate remained steadily above 10%, still well below the 55% grant rate that was reached in 2018.
In July and August 2023, the majority of parole hearings were conducted before two Board Members--Gwathney and Littleton—and the grant rate returned to early 2023 levels of sub-5%.
In 251 parole hearings in June and July 2023, Leigh Gwathney voted to grant parole in only six (2.4%) cases. In the same 251 proceedings, Darryl Littleton voted to grant parole in 20 (8%) cases. In 161 parole hearings that Kim Davidson sat for in June 2023, she voted to grant parole in 20 (12.4%) cases.
In the 267 parole hearings observed over the summer, the Attorney General’s Office and/or VOCAL opposed parole in at least three of every four (78.3%) parole hearings, and even in cases where victims supported granting parole.
At parole hearings in Montgomery every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, representatives from the Attorney General’s Office (AG’s Office) and Victims of Crime and Leniency (VOCAL) are present in person to voice their opposition to parole being granted.
The influence of these two opposition forces cannot be understated. Of the 209 parole hearings in which the AG’s Office and/or VOCAL opposed parole being granted, only seven of the 209 (3.4%) people were granted parole.
Furthermore, in every case that the AG’s Office opposed parole being granted, Leigh Gwathney sided with her former employer and voted to deny parole.
In Alabama, white applicants are more than twice as likely to be granted parole than Black applicants, even when Black and white parole applicants are similarly situated.
The Parole Watch data also demonstrated racial disparities between similarly situated white and Black parole applicants, particularly with respect to drug-related convictions. For example, the Parole Board considered three parole applicants with trafficking cannabis convictions--two who were Black and one who was white- and only the white parole applicant was granted parole.
Alabama is one of two states that does NOT allow incarcerated people to be present at their own parole hearings. In short, incarcerated people cannot advocate for themselves at parole hearings in Alabama.
Credits
Parole Watch was born out of a commitment and connection to incarcerated people in Alabama. There are incarcerated men and women in this state who are ready to safely and responsibly reenter society but are being denied that opportunity by the Parole Board. Parole Watch is dedicated to incarcerated people in Alabama and to those who unwaveringly show up to advocate on behalf of their loved ones at seemingly hopeless parole hearings.
Monique DeGivenchy, Simone Hampton, and Troy Robertson deserve special thanks for their tireless and committed efforts that made Parole Watch possible. Monique, Simone, and Troy observed a total of 267 parole hearings over a ten-week period and their presence and insight was invaluable. Alison Mollman, Stef Bernal-Martinez, Jose Vazquez, Nichelle Cunningham, Timmy Châu, and Reese Lane also contributed their time, energy, and heart into Parole Watch, and deserve special thanks.