Last week, State Rep. Chris England (D-Tuscaloosa) took to social media to call for new leadership at the top of the Alabama Department of Corrections (ADOC) and the Alabama Board of Pardons and Paroles.
England, who also chairs the Alabama Democratic Party, called on ADOC commissioner Jeff Dunn to be fired from his job and called on Board of Pardons and Paroles chairwoman Leigh Gwathney to be impeached from her position. England insisted the two must go for the state to make progress on overcoming inadequacies of the Alabama corrections system.
During an appearance on Monday’s broadcast of Mobile radio FM Talk 106.5’s “The Jeff Poor Show,” Jefferson County Republican Party chairman Paul DeMarco, who is also a former state legislator, called Gov. Kay Ivey and leaders in the Alabama Legislature to offer a public vote of confidence for Gwathney.
DeMarco reminded listeners of Jimmy Spencer, the 2018 Guntersville triple murder suspect, who was out on parole when he allegedly committed those murders. Under the current leadership of Gwathney, DeMarco maintained such oversights were no longer taking place and deserved the support of Ivey and legislative leaders in the wake of England’s remarks.
“Not three years ago, we were dealing with the problems we had with the parole board that were out of control,” he said. “It was failing the public. It was allowing hundreds of violent felons out on the streets, and unfortunately, tragically, disgracefully — it took the murder of three individuals in Marshall County for the state to act. And thank goodness, the governor, the attorney general, and the legislature did act to change the rules and strengthen the Board of Pardons and Paroles. Now we have a board that is looking at each situation fact-by-fact basis and is not releasing all these felons. And so, what does the Democratic leadership do? ‘We need a change in the leadership of the Board of Pardons and Paroles.’”
“The Governor and legislative leaders need to stand up to support the chair of that board, Leigh Gwathney, and what they’re doing,” DeMarco continued. “I want you to just think about this, Jeff — why do we want to go back where we were before? This was a huge scandal in the state when we had this individual get out and murder three people. We had all kinds of people get out. And it’s not like prisons are full of shoplifters. Just over 80% of our prisons have violent criminals. We need to support the current leadership of the Board of Pardons and Paroles, who is doing their job.”
@Jeff_Poor is a graduate of Auburn University and the University of South Alabama, the editor of Breitbart TV, a columnist for Mobile’s Lagniappe Weekly, and host of Mobile’s “The Jeff Poor Show” from 9 a.m.-12 p.m. on FM Talk 106.5.
