‘The Alabama Solution’: Sundance Review Smuggled smartphones provide a shocking insider's perspective on Alabama's prison system

THE ALABAMA SOLUTION was the final film I saw at Sundance this year. Directed by Andrew Jarecki and Charlotte Kaufman, the documentary incorporates smuggled footage shot by incarcerated men in an Alabama prison wanting to tell the world about the mistreatment they were facing. The film is out today.

The Latest FCC Censorship Push No One Is Talking About Targets Incarcerated People Brendan Carr is advancing a plan to choke communications for people who use cellphones to expose abuses in prison.

"Contraband cellphones have become a reliable tool for incarcerated journalists to [..] expose the harsh realities within correctional facilities."

"Fearmongering to thwart attempts to hold prison officials accountable is not a new phenomenon."
#Alabama #Arkansas #Texas #USA #Incarceration

People speak of hope as if it is this delicate, ephemeral thing made of whispers and spider's webs. It's not. Hope has dirt on her face, blood on her knuckles, the grit of the cobblestones in her hair, and just spat out a tooth as she rises for another go. #Alabama #PrisonReform

Weirdly, we never hear “how are you going to pay for it” when lawmakers create new crimes and shut down paths to rehabilitation.

Alabama state prison population could rise by a third by 2030 | Alabama Reflector The number of split sentences issued by judges, parole and the people incarcerated affected by changes to good time rules are factors.

Alabama state prison population could rise by a third by 2030
(via @alabamareflector.com )
https://pulse.ly/fndbtrmovp

Alabama state prison population could rise by a third by 2030 | Alabama Reflector The number of split sentences issued by judges, parole and the people incarcerated affected by changes to good time rules are factors.

Via @rchapoco.bsky.social: Forecasts released by the Alabama Sentencing Commission on Friday suggested the state’s prison population could
by up to 33% by 2030, due in part to punitive new laws passed by the Alabama Legislature. The increase would further strain Corrections and the state’s budgets.

'The Alabama Solution' Documentary Review: Horrifying and Unspeakable but Deserving of Atttention This movie is horrifying and shaming and unspeakable but it deserves our attention, because all the horrifying, shaming, unspeakable things within it are happening to human beings. This is often forgo...

There are some scenes in THE ALABAMA SOLUTION 📽️ which are right on the edge of what a documentary can responsibly show, but I tend to think that if someone can live it, I can at least watch it once. It's very painful and very good movieswetextedabout.com/the-alabama-...

‘The Alabama Solution’ Trailer: Shocking Treatment Of Prisoners Exposed In Documentary From ‘The Jinx’ Director Andrew Jarecki And Charlotte Kaufman Watch the trailer for 'The Alabama Solution,' a doc that exposes shocking conditions in Alabama prisons from the team behind 'The Jinx' parts 1 and 2.

‘The Alabama Solution’ Trailer: Shocking Treatment Of Prisoners Exposed In Documentary From ‘The Jinx’ Director Andrew Jarecki And Charlotte Kaufman (via @deadline.com)

https://pulse.ly/0ilwo9yhn7

When the state kilks someone even the victim's don't want killed it only creates more victims. ‬

Exposing the incarcerated to trauma, violence, neglect & destroying their family connections doesn't make us safer when they get out. And 95% get out. We need to ask our politicians, do we want them to be productive citizens when they get out or too damaged to function or be safe around? #Alabama

Truth. Yet exposing the incarcerated to trauma, violence, neglect & destroying their family connections doesn't make us safer when they get out. And 95% get out. We need to ask our politicians, do we want them to be productive citizens when they get out or too damaged to function or be safe around?

Family visitation for inmates dramatically decreases recidivism & is a huge incentive for good behavior. Alabama has all these initiatives & task forces trying to decrease recidivism while the ADOC cancels, shortens & discourages visits. When are they going to get on the same page? #Alabama

The Alabama Department of Corrections Administrative Rule AR015 Victim/Offender Mediation Program specifically allows and facilitates these meetings and the only “requirement” is for the victim or their representative to “REQUEST” the meeting. Once again ADOC refuses to follow their own regulations.

The Alabama Department of Corrections Administrative Rule AR015 Victim/Offender Mediation Program specifically allows and facilitates these meetings and the only “requirement” is for the victim or their representative to “REQUEST” the meeting. Once again ADOC refuses to follow their own regulations.

"Be glad it's not worse" is an unacceptable answer involving the incarcerated. When the Alabama Department of Corrections says that about living conditions, safety, family visits, medical neglect… it's a thinly veiled threat & rationale to treat inmates any way they want because "it could be worse."

Alabama Task Force Targets 15% Recidivism Rate by 2030 Through Collaborative Strategies Alabama aims to reduce recidivism from 29% to 15% by 2030 with multi-agency efforts.

Alabama wants to decrease recidivism. DECADES of proof show visits in prison ⬆️ family connections & dramatically ⬇️recidivism. But ADOC undermines that cutting family visits every chance. Promoting visits is such an easy step to ⬇️ recidivism but DOC does the opposite. citizenportal.ai/articles/576...

With the Alabama Department of Corrections cruelty is always the endgame. While visiting a prison I saw a dying woman in a wheelchair with cancer who traveled from states away told she couldn't wear her head covering & then was refused her visit with her son after it had been approved weeks earlier.

Pie chart showing that every day, 31,900 youth are held in facilities away from home as a result of juvenile or criminal legal system involvement

🚨NEW: On any given day, nearly 32,000 kids are confined away from home – and most are in restrictive facilities that look & feel a lot like adult prisons and jails

Our new report gives the most up-to-date picture on youth confinement in the U.S. 🧵
www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/yout...

Children are not adults. That's why we don't let them vote, get married, buy tobacco, drink or even rent a car. When they commit a crime they don't magically become mature enough to do all those things. Stop trying them as adults. #JuvenileJustice #CJReform

all our communities less safe. Of course Alabama just doesn't give a f*ck. Thank you for coming to my TED talk. 😡 /4

have 6 or 7. Of course visits are a strong incentive for good behavior and strongly decrease recidivism because it strengthens all that needed support for reentry. So the horrid handling of family visits in Alabama is making the very guards perpetuating this cruelty less safe, and all our/3

the visit. Every single time they waste at least half our visit trying to find a CO to man the visit. And it never gets better. I'm 100% sure the cruelty is on purpose to try and get us to give up. And most families have. When I started visiting years ago visits had 100 people, now most times they/2

I've been visiting my LO in an Alabama prison for decades. And every single visit the staff act like they had NO IDEA they had a visit that day. There's no one who knows the computer system to check visitors in. There's no woman officer to search the women visitors. There's no officer to supervise/1

Legislators approve three legal defense contracts for Alabama corrections officers | Alabama Reflector The legal contracts will pay legal firms to defend corrections staff for alleged wrongdoing that resulted in either deaths or injuries.

$600,000 to defend COs beating inmates to death. What a cruel way to spend our tax dollars. Alabama DO BETTER!!!!! - Legislators approve three legal defense contracts for Alabama corrections officers alabamareflector.com/2025/09/11/l...

Rep. Barry Moore introduces bill to provide Americans released from custody with photo ID This legislation aims to reduce recidivism and create a clearer pathway toward becoming a productive citizen by providing crucial identification.

If we expect former inmates to stay out of prison, we need to remove unnecessary roadblocks to their success, starting with something as simple and essential as an ID.” Looking at you Alabama www.alreporter.com/2025/09/10/r...

The Crime of Being 17: Harsh Juvenile Justice Laws Resurgant "Raise the age" laws threaten to deepen our justice system's inequity, creating a country where geography determines a young person’s future more than facts.

"the promised safety benefits [of trying juveniles as adults] failed to materialize. Research from CDC Office of Juvenile Justice & multiple state studies all found that prosecuting youth in adult court didn't reduce crime. In fact, it made communities less safe." www.bestlawyers.com/article/the-...

Civil rights groups encouraged by new Alabama parole board chair | Alabama Reflector Advocates say that since Hal Nash became chair, the Board of Pardons and Paroles appears to be more interested in witness testimony.

Via @rchapoco.bsky.social: Civil rights and criminal justice groups say that a month and a half into Alabama Pardons and Parole board chair Hal Nash’s term, they’re encouraged by what they see.

"Alabama has a deplorable history that predates its new love of nitrogen-gassing of standing behind problematic experts & vague medical jargon that has a lot of wiggle-room, a lot of “fudge factor” to it — to justify its palpably torturous executions."
www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/story/opinio...

Alabama lawmakers may make changes to proposed parole guidelines Legislators signaled to Alabama Board of Pardons and Paroles staff Wednesday that they will recommend modifications to the parole guidelines finalized by the board last month. The changes could include weighing a parole applicants’ disciplinary record beyond 12 months instead of placing greater consideration for a person’s behavior in prison within the year, and giving […]

Alabama Reflector:Alabama News Beacon #Alabama #Parole #Legislation

🎯FACT: For many people incarcerated in #Alabama, parole is unattainable.

Revisit our #FreedomDenied series exploring the human cost of repeated parole denial and allowing those denied parole to share their story in their voices: bit.ly/36ThgiS