December 23, 2024

cjstudents

News for criminal justice students

Alabama paroles show growing racial disparities, per statistics

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In this file photo from 2015, prisoners stand in a crowded lunch line at Elmore Correctional Facility in Elmore, Ala. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson, File)

The Alabama Board of Pardons and Paroles has slowed its parole grant rate in recent years, and existing racial disparities in parole grants have accelerated. 

Data collected by the Bureau of Pardons and Paroles shows parole grants for Black applicants dropping at a much faster rate in 2020 and 2021 than for whites. The statistics have taken center stage in a fight over legislation aimed at getting the Board to explain its decisions and improve oversight of decisions. 

“If you’re a Black (parole) applicant, your white counterparts are two times more likely to get paroled,” Rep. Chris England, D-Tuscaloosa, the bill’s sponsor, said at a Wednesday press conference.

In 2019, 34% of Black applicants were granted parole and 36% of white applicants received it, according to statistics compiled by the Bureau of Pardons and Paroles. In 2020, just 16% of Black applicants received parole, while 29% of white applicants did so. In 2021, the number of Black applicants getting parole fell to 8%.

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