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| Supreme Court upholds amended habitual offender law |
| By Associated Press |
| Published: 09/06/2004 |
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The Alabama Supreme Court Aug. 27 unanimously upheld an amendment to the state's habitual offender law that allows nonviolent inmates already serving life terms to seek a new, lighter sentence. The 9-0 decision, reversing a lower court, said the amendment is clear enough in its explanation of which inmates are considered "nonviolent" and may seek lighter sentences years after they were convicted. The case, involving Junior Mack Kirby of Jackson County, was the first dealing with the amended habitual offender law to reach the state's high court, but further litigation on the issue is likely. In 2000, the Legislature amended the Habitual Felony Offender Act to allow judges to give sentences other than life without parole in certain cases. A year later, lawmakers passed another amendment making the lighter sentences available to nonviolent offenders who were sentenced before 2000. Kirby, convicted of drug trafficking in 1990, asked his trial judge to review his case to see whether he could be retroactively given a lighter sentence. But the judge refused, saying the law did not clearly state who was a nonviolent offender - thus granting powers to the courts that are reserved for the legislative branch. The state Court of Criminal Appeals also denied Kirby's request, saying his motion could not be considered because his case was no longer active. But the Supreme Court disagreed with both courts' reasoning. Justice Champ Lyons noted that the 2001 amendment specifically instructed trial courts to review cases that had been decided already and provided sufficient explanation of which inmates were eligible to have their cases reviewed. "Although (the 2001 amendment) is not a model of clarity, it does provide reasonably clear standards for its execution and administration," Lyons wrote. Both Kirby's attorney, Bryan Stevenson of the Equal Justice Initiative, and Attorney General Troy King were out of town Friday and had no immediate comment, spokespeople for each said. |
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