An effort to crack down on what Mobile officials call the “revolving door” of violent offenders returning to the streets while awaiting trial moved forward when an Alabama House committee approved the measure unanimously, according to Mobile Public Safety Director James Barber.
The proposal, put forward by Barber with backing from city and county leaders, would amend the Alabama Constitution to expand the circumstances under which a judge may deny bond. Under current law, only defendants charged with capital murder can be held without bond. The amendment would extend that to offenses punishable by life in prison without parole, or life imprisonment when the proof is evident or the presumption is great — a group of crimes Mobile County District Attorney Ashley Rich described as Class A felonies such as rape, sodomy, murder and first-degree robbery.
It would also apply to anyone a court determines poses a clear danger to the community.
Push follows a deadly weekend
The announcement followed one of Mobile’s most violent weekends in recent memory, with five shootings reported across a 48-hour stretch. One of them, on Dauphin Island Parkway, left two people dead, and the suspect in that case had been granted bond.
“Offenders that are released from violent crimes back into our community, only to commit more violent crimes, and then they’re re-arrested only to be released again,” Barber said at a news conference unveiling the bill.
Barber was joined in support by Mobile Police Chief Lawrence Battiste, Mobile County Sheriff Sam Cochran and Rich. Residents near some of the weekend violence said they hoped the change would slow the cycle.
“The violence has got to stop,” said Essie Etheridge, who lives on Tuttle Street, where a shooting occurred just blocks from her home that weekend. “We need a change.”
Next steps in Montgomery
The city worked with State Rep. Chip Brown to carry the bill to the Alabama Legislature, where he introduced it in the House the day after the announcement. Because it would alter the state constitution, the measure would go before voters statewide if lawmakers approve it.