UA Criminal Justice to Host Incarceration Discussion

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Students and community members will have the chance to learn how incarceration in the United States is changing and what law enforcement agencies are doing to modernize, adapt and respond to the issues facing people in jails and prisons during a community panel Wednesday, Oct. 19, at The University of Alabama.

Organized by the UA department of criminal justice, the panel will be from 6 to 7:30 p.m. in Room 1000 of North Lawn Hall on the UA campus. The panel is open and free to the public. A reception will follow.

Panelists are:

Ron Abernathy, Tuscaloosa County sheriff.

Dr. Jennifer Kenney, UA department of criminal Justice.

Jeremy Sherer, assistant U.S. attorney.

Dennis Stamper, prison warden in Montgomery.

Angela Gentry, institute unit manager, Aliceville Federal Correctional Institution PRO.

Engret Jenkins, Federal Correctional Institute Prisoner Reentry.

The event will be moderated by Dr. Adam Ghazi-Tehrani, assistant professor of criminal justice at UA. The department will live-tweet the discussion from its Twitter handle “@CJatUA.” Anyone who’d like to submit a question can email the department at cjdept@as.ua.edu or text questions to 205/861-0605.

The United States’ incarceration rate is much higher than that of other countries. The U.S. prison population (693 per 100,000 people as of 2016) is the highest in the world and presents problems for prisoners, affected families, the government, and society in general, Ghazi-Tehrani said. The U.S. government has recently announced that it would be discontinuing the use of private prisons due to the combination of reduced services for inmates and increased costs for the American public.

“While this change at the federal level is important, the majority of incarcerated individuals in the U.S. are housed at state and local facilities unaffected by the decision,” Ghazi-Tehrani said. “A startling new study by the Prison Policy Initiative found that, if each state were a country, Alabama’s incarceration rate would be the fifth-largest in the world, ahead of the general U.S., at 987 people incarcerated out of every 100,000. With most of these individuals being eventually released, it is imperative to make sure they are situated to leave prison rehabilitated and do not simply get trapped in the ‘revolving door’ of the U.S. justice system.”

The community forum will be the third held by the UA department of criminal justice. The department held “Cyber Crime and Stolen Data” on campus in October 2015 and “From the Station to the Sidewalks: An Informed Discussion of Police and Community Relations in Light of Ferguson” in October 2014.