Life Sentences for Teens
The United States is the only country that convicts young adolescents as adults and sentences them to life in prison without parole. A new report from the Alabama-based Equal Justice Initiative identifies dozens of prisoners serving life sentences for crimes committed when they were 13 or 14. Many were sentenced under mandatory sentencing laws that don’t let judges consider prior history. And the group’s Executive Director Bryan Stevenson tells WBHM’s Tanya Ott.that some of the convictions were for crimes that didn’t involve homicide.
In December, the United Nations voted on a resolution to abolish life imprisonment without parole for children and young teenagers. 185 countries voted for it. The U-S was the lone dissenter.
Once praised, settlement to help sickened BP oil spill workers leaves most with nearly nothing
Thousands of ordinary people who helped clean up after the 2010 BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico say they got sick. A court settlement was supposed to help compensate them, but it hasn’t turned out as expected.
Q&A: How harm reduction can help mitigate the opioid crisis
Maia Szalavitz discusses harm reduction's effectiveness against drug addiction, how punitive policies can hurt people who need pain medication and more.
The Gulf States Newsroom is hiring a Community Engagement Producer
The Gulf States Newsroom is seeking a curious, creative and collaborative professional to work with our regional team to build up engaged journalism efforts.
Gambling bills face uncertain future in the Alabama legislature
This year looked to be different for lottery and gambling legislation, which has fallen short for years in the Alabama legislature. But this week, with only a handful of meeting days left, competing House and Senate proposals were sent to a conference committee to work out differences.
Alabama’s racial, ethnic health disparities are ‘more severe’ than other states, report says
Data from the Commonwealth Fund show that the quality of care people receive and their health outcomes worsened because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
What’s your favorite thing about Alabama?
That's the question we put to those at our recent News and Brews community pop-ups at Hop City and Saturn in Birmingham.
