Alabama releases about 13,000 people from jail or prison every year, and they're expected to reintegrate into communities by sustaining employment, housing and other essentials.
Many people face major challenges in finding stable work and income with a criminal record.
Donny Jones, executive vice president and chief workforce officer of the Chamber of Commerce of West Alabama and executive director of West Alabama Works, and his team have developed "Building Hope Alabama," an online portal connecting wraparound services to people who were charged or convicted of a crime, to help them establish a sustainable life outside the criminal justice system.
"When you look at the recidivism rate for the State of Alabama, a lot of times it's because people really don't understand how to get into the workforce," Jones observed. "This is about helping individuals, but it's also about the recidivism rate in Alabama, and helping the holistic approach of the individual in our state and the community."
He added the "holistic approach" may include education, mental health services, food assistance, and resources to obtain a government ID.
According to the Alabama Department of Corrections, about 28% of those released from Alabama prisons are rearrested or reincarcerated within three years.
A report by the Prison Policy Initiative reveals formerly incarcerated individuals face an unemployment rate of 27%, surpassing even the rate during the Great Depression.
Jones pointed out with Alabama's skilled worker shortage, the portal also offers a two-way benefit: filling workforce gaps by helping people to reintegrate.
"In the past companies have been hesitant to hire justice involved individuals," Jones acknowledged. "But with workforce shortages and the federal funding programs helping those individuals and deferring the cost of their salaries and the benefits for these individuals, employers are now more willing to partner with us to offer these employment opportunities."
Jones added for some employers, a program can cover a worker's salary for 390 hours if they meet eligibility criteria. Since its launch, Building Hope Alabama has worked with 38 companies, successfully assisting more than 100 people with employment and resources.
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Groups advocating for people detained in immigration facilities are calling for the reinstatement of a program which allowed 500 free minutes of phone calls per month.
In recent weeks, Immigration and Customs Enforcement cut off the free domestic and international calls, telling advocates pandemic-era funding has run out.
Rosa Santana, interim co-executive director of the Envision Freedom Fund, said families of the detainees often struggle to afford the calls, which can cost up to $3 for 15 minutes.
"Usually the person who is in detention is the breadwinner and now families have to be able to figure out how they could bring food and everything that the breadwinner used to bring, pay rent," Santana pointed out. "And on top of that now, it's having to pay for phone calls."
Immigration and Customs Enforcement did not respond to a request for comment. People in at least 16 ICE detention centers across the country have reported losing access to the free calls, including three sites in California: Golden State Annex, Mesa Verde Processing Center and Otay Mesa Detention Center.
Karim Golding, organizer for the nonprofit Freedom to Thrive, said the phone calls are a lifeline for people in detention; a connection to family that keeps their spirits up. In addition, human rights groups worry it could make it harder to monitor conditions on the inside.
"Absent the phones, how would we know that rights are being violated?" Golding asked. "How would we know if nobody has the ability to communicate?"
People in detention do still have access to work programs where they can earn about $1 for eight hours of work to spend on calls or items at the commissary.
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A controversial new law is set to take effect next week, requiring Hoosiers to upload sensitive documents, including driver's licenses and Social Security numbers, to access adult content online. The measure aims to prevent minors from viewing explicit materials, but it has sparked significant concerns.
Chris Daley, executive director of the ACLU of Indiana, argues the law infringes on constitutional rights by excessively burdening access for Hoosiers.
"You can't do that in a way that impermissibly burdens an adult's access to the same material. And the state can't use a means to limit a minor's access to adult material if there's a less burdensome means available to do so," Daley said.
Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita supports the law, citing the need to protect children from the psychological impacts of explicit material.
Opponents question the effectiveness of the measure, pointing out that minors could still access adult content through unregulated sites or by using VPNs.
The law also raises concerns about potential censorship of sex education and LGBTQ+ content. Sen. Liz Brown, D-Fort Wayne, chaired the Senate Judiciary Committee when the law made its way through the Statehouse in the 2024 session. She suggests porn sites find it easier to adapt than comply - recently cutting its feed in states such as Louisiana, Mississippi and Utah.
"This isn't about eliminating pornography from the state of Indiana - although I would be OK with this," Brown said. "Pornhub -- and I can't speak for that business -- but they decided that their business model was easier, which would indicate to me that they knew at the time they were operating that they were having minors access their material."
Pornhub and other operators are seeking to block the law, arguing it impinges on adults' free speech and other constitutional rights.
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A new bill that takes effect next Monday will allow incarcerated Mississippians to request an absentee ballot in time for the presidential election on November 5.
House Bill 1406 will impact incarcerated Mississippians who have not been convicted of any of the 23 disenfranchisement crimes to be eligible to participate in the electoral process.
Paloma Wu, deputy director of impact litigation at the Mississippi Center for Justice, said they want all eligible Mississippians to vote because it's better for democracy. She added the Magnolia State has a limited excuse-only absentee ballot, meaning people can vote absentee, but only in specific circumstances.
"Many people who are held in jail and imprisoned in Mississippi are actually eligible to vote. And for one large group of those people, they had no excuse, which would have applied to them," she said.
Wu pointed out that Mississippi has one of the highest incarceration rates in the nation, with more than 1,000 people per 100,000 residents behind bars.
Wu noted those who are convicted of one of 23 disenfranchising crimes in a Mississippi court are automatically banned from voting for life. She added the history behind the disfranchising law was to prevent people of color from voting.
"Our list of disenfranchising crimes was created to target primarily descendants of recently enslaved people back in 1890," she explained.
Wu pointed out that her organization, along with other advocacy groups, Mississippi Votes, Black Voters Matter, and Mississippi Center for Re-Entry, collaborated with the state throughout the 2024 legislative session to get House Bill 1406 passed.
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