The High Cost of Alabama's Habitual Felony Offender Act: A Preliminary Assessment

Abstract

A partial evaluation of Alabama's Habitual Felony Offender Act is conducted using case studies of inmates serving life without parole sentences. The centrality of the investigation focuses on the effect of the lift without parole sentencing, a practice which is assumed by many to be based on sound political practice, but may also be viewed as a questionable social policy. The authors suggest that Alabama's get-tough policy dealing with habitual criminals has effectively increased the prison population, but the consequences of the Act appears to be very costly in terms of the increasing number of L WOP inmates and the potential life threat to communities.