Alabama’s newly elected chief justice: Courts must do more to keep people from going back to prison

Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice-elect Sarah Stewart told lawmakers and state leaders Tuesday that courts can do more to help people who break the law steer away from repeat crimes and toward productive lives.

Stewart, a Republican who defeated Circuit Judge Greg Griffin of Montgomery in last week's general election, will take over for retiring Chief Justice Tom Parker in January.

Stewart spoke to the Alabama Reentry Commission, a panel created by the Legislature in 2021 to recommend policies that can help men and women leaving incarceration find jobs and stability.

The commission has set a goal of reducing Alabama's prison recidivism rate by half by 2030.

Stewart talked to the commission about her ideas to achieve that goal and her philosophy that the court system has a core mission of delivering justice.

"So what are we trying to do with that criminal defendant?" Stewart said. "Obviously, we're trying to make sure that there's some consequences, that people are accountable for their actions to society.

"But what we're really trying to do is keep them from offending again. We are trying to get that recidivism rate as low as we can get it."

Alabama's chief justice oversees the state's trial courts, a system of about 265 judges, 2,100 employees, and a budget of close to $160 million.

Stewart told the commission she will establish a new criminal division within the Administrative Office of Courts.

Bennet Wright, executive director of the Alabama Sentencing Commission, will lead the division. Wright will continue in his job with the Sentencing Commission, which researches criminal justice policies and advises the Legislature.

Stewart said Nathan Wilson, who is clerk of the Alabama Court of Civil Appeals, will serve as the director of the Administrative Office of Courts.

Stewart is finishing up a six-year term as an associate justice on the nine-member, all-Republican Supreme Court. Before that, she was a circuit judge in Mobile for 13 years. She practiced law for 14 years before becoming a judge.

Stewart said Alabama's recidivism rate is about 36%. The Council of State Governments Justice Center reported the state's rate was 29% in 2018. That's the percentage of people who were reincarcerated within three years of release. The rate improved from a decade earlier. It was 34% rate in 2008.

Stewart said the state can do more to bring the rate down.

Stewart said Alabama can expand and improve its use of accountability courts, which offer alternatives to incarceration for offenders. The courts vary by county and judicial circuit and include drug courts, mental health courts, and courts for veterans.

Stewart said her other priorities as chief justice would include the juvenile justice system and pay, retention, and training of employees in the court system.

The Reentry Commission includes state lawmakers and representatives from the Alabama departments of Corrections, Labor, Law Enforcement, Mental Health, Human Resources, and Veterans Affairs, as well as the Alabama Community College System, the Southern Poverty Law Center, and other organizations. Alabama Bureau of Pardons and Paroles Director Cam Ward is the chairman.

The commission is due to report its recommendations to the Legislature early next year.