House committee delays vote on bill to allow inmates to participate in parole hearings

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — A divided Alabama legislative committee delayed a vote on a proposal that would allow inmates to speak by video conference at their parole hearings.

The House Judiciary postponed a decision after there was an effort to water down the bill by allowing the Parole Board to choose whether to allow the participation. The committee will take the bill up again Thursday morning.

“It ultimately guts the bill. Let’s just be honest,” Rep. Chris England, a Democrat from Tuscaloosa, said of the proposal to change the bill.

Alabama is one of two states that do not allow an inmate to address the parole board, England said.

The bill by Republican Sen. Will Barfoot, which was approved without a dissenting vote last month in the Alabama Senate, would allow inmates to “participate in his or her parole hearing virtually by means of video conference or other similar communications equipment.”