SPLC publishes Opportunity Costs: Unequal Justice in Alabama’s Community Corrections Programs
A new investigative report published today by the Southern Poverty Law Center reveals serious flaws in Alabama’s community corrections programs, an otherwise promising system for diverting people from the state’s prisons.
Ideally, these programs allow people to stay in their communities, under supervision, while receiving rehabilitative services such as drug treatment or mental health counseling.
But in some areas, the programs seem to be focused more on raising money than on rehabilitation or public safety, according to the report. The result is a “user-funded justice” system that drains millions of dollars each year in fees from participants who may struggle to make ends meet.
Today, the SPLC released part one in a series on community corrections and published the data underpinning the investigation along with a methodology and explanation of the reporting process.
