A nursing home has agreed to take her to live out her final days. But
in January, the parole board took just six minutes to deny her parole.
'Hopeless': Parole denial for 71-year-old Alabama woman
with terminal illness highlights 'tremendous injustice'
[link removed]
Esther Schrader Read the full piece here
[link removed]
Friend,
The Alabama Board of Pardons and Paroles meets just 20 miles from the
prison where Leola Harris, a 71-year-old woman in end-stage renal
failure, has been incarcerated for 19 years. But for Harris, those 20
miles might as well be the moon, as far away as her chances of being
released from prison before she dies.
Harris was a first-time offender when she was convicted of murdering a
friend in her home. She has been a model of good behavior inside the
prison for the almost two decades she has served of a 35-year
sentence.
Harris uses a wheelchair for mobility and undergoes dialysis three
times a week. She has diabetes. She is unable to go to the bathroom by
herself and has spent extended periods in the infirmary of Julia
Tutwiler Prison for Women. A nursing home has agreed to take her to
live out her final days. But in January, the parole board took just
six minutes to deny her parole.
Harris never traveled the 20 miles to the boardroom, where just two
members of the three-member board made the decision because the other
member was absent. In Alabama, unlike in every other state where
parole hearings are held, incarcerated people aren't permitted
to attend their parole hearings, in person or virtually.
While the Alabama Department of Corrections certified that Harris was
eligible for medical parole, and both a registered nurse and case
manager testified she should be released to the nursing home, the
parole board took none of that, nor Harris' nearly impeccable
prison record, into consideration. Her next parole hearing is in 2028.
Her attorneys say she will not live to see it.
Under Alabama law, parole board denials are not subject to appeal.
Harris' experience is the norm these days in Alabama. The rate
of incarcerated people being granted parole in the state plunged to a
new low in the last fiscal year, when 90% of eligible people's
parole claims were rejected, according to the board's reports.
The Southern Poverty Law Center and a growing number of advocates for
incarcerated people say the decline is no coincidence. The board,
advocates say, is not following its own guidelines and has made denial
of parole the default decision.
"Pure injustice," former Alabama Chief Justice Sue Bell
Cobb calls the Harris denial, and the streak of denials of which it is
part. Two years ago Cobb, appalled at the plummeting release rates and
the way parole hearings are conducted - attorneys are given four
to six minutes to make their case and there is no possibility of
appeal - formed Redemption Earned, a nonprofit law firm that
represents elderly and ill incarcerated adults it deems worthy of
transition to nursing homes. Cobb and Redemption Earned staff are
representing Harris at no cost.
Read More
[link removed]
Sincerely,
Your friends at the Southern Poverty Law Center
The SPLC is a catalyst for racial justice in the South and beyond,
working in partnership with communities to dismantle white supremacy,
strengthen intersectional movements, and advance the human rights of
all people.
Friend, will you make a gift to help the SPLC fight for
justice and equity in courts and combat white supremacy?
Donate
[link removed]
--
Unsubscribe [link removed] | Privacy Policy [link removed] | Contact Us [link removed]
Southern Poverty Law Center
400 Washington Avenue
Montgomery, AL 36104
334.956.8200 // splcenter.org
[link removed]
Copyright 2022
