State Sen. Chris Elliott (R-Josephine) is pushing back against claims that his bill, SB 7, implements the “unfettered release of criminals.”
Elliott’s proposed measure would push back Alabama’s mandatory release date for inmates to 2030.
Gov. Kay Ivey’s office criticized the bill earlier this week on Birmingham’s ABC 33/40.
“Let’s be clear about something: We are for supervision of inmates before the end of their sentences,” said Ivey’s Communication Director Gina Maiola. “Those who oppose this measure are for the unfettered release of criminals.”
Tuesday on FM Talk 106.5’s “Midday Mobile,” Elliott called Ivey’s claims “hogwash.”
“That is hogwash and what I will call dishonest, intellectually dishonest,” Elliot said. “I mean, you’re basically saying that law enforcement professionals across this state — district attorneys, the attorney general himself, sheriffs, police officers, all of who have said this is a really bad idea — are for the unfettered release of criminals? I mean, come on. That doesn’t even pass the smell test.”
The state senator believes letting those criminals out of prison early isn’t an effective way to keep Alabamians safe.
“I think that we put bad people in jail to keep them away from good people,” he argued. “And I think that if you let them out early, then the likelihood that they’re going to go back to their ways and harm good people, the ones I represent, is probably pretty good.”
He also disagrees with the governor that this plan is good for “public safety.”
“The governor said this is a pro-public safety measure,” he said. “You’re letting dangerous criminals out of jail that could interact with the public sooner than they otherwise would be. We know they’re not going to commit robbery, murder, burglary, rape, etc., while they’re in jail, against the general public anyway, they’re not going to do that while they’re in jail. So how is it pro-public safety to let them out early? I’m just not following what’s going on.”
Elliott said the supervision that is implemented with the prisoner release is not good enough to ensure the safety of the public in the state.
“I don’t think that an ankle monitor a year before you’re supposed to get out of jail is going to be enough to keep you from going back to your old ways,” he said. “I’d love to be wrong, but in the mean time can we just stop letting dangerous people back out on the streets…let’s just take a breath and see if this is right or not. I suspect it’s not, but I don’t want to keep going down this path letting more and more people out of jail when we’ve got public safety at risk.”
Yaffee is a contributing writer to Yellowhammer News and hosts “The Yaffee Program” weekdays 9-11 a.m. on WVNN. You can follow him on Twitter @Yaffee
Don’t miss out! Subscribe today to have Alabama’s leading headlines delivered to your inbox.