Alabama ended judicial override.
Now it must finish the job.
26 people are sitting on Alabama's death row because of an unconstitutional sentencing scheme the state has already abolished. Governor Ivey can correct it.
A law half-finished.
In 2017, the Alabama State Legislature passed Senate Bill 16 to end judicial override, an outdated, unconstitutional practice that allowed a single judge to sentence someone to death despite the jury recommending life without parole. Governor Kay Ivey signed the bill into law.
While this was an important step to ensure fair and constitutional sentencing, the bill did not include a retroactive clause. That means 26 people are still sitting on death row, awaiting execution, under a sentencing scheme that Gov. Ivey and Alabama lawmakers rejected as unconstitutional.
The jury's authority. The Constitution's promise.
- 01
The role of the jury
Under the U.S. and Alabama Constitutions, twelve citizens — not one judge — decide.
- 02
Fair and equal treatment
Two people convicted of the same crime should not receive different fates based solely on the year of sentencing.
- 03
Constitutional consistency
Capital sentencing must apply today's standards across the board, not selectively.
Jurors, justices, and lawmakers — in their own words.
Those closest to judicial override — the citizens who served on these juries, the legislators who ended the practice, and the jurists who saw its consequences — describe what was lost when a single judge overruled twelve.
When I found out the judge had overturned our recommendation I was infuriated because, why? What was the point of us even being in there if we weren't going to matter.
That's why we pick a jury of the community and they decide guilt, innocence, and punishment. Judicial override flies in the face of that.
Allowing an elected official to override the judgment of a jury introduced the potential for arbitrariness, political pressure, and injustice into the most consequential decisions our courts make.
Our careful deliberation didn't mean a thing to the law. An elected judge overruled our decision using a now-illegal mechanism known as 'judge override.'
End unconstitutional sentencing schemes.
Gov. Ivey has the clear executive authority to fix this injustice. Through clemency, she can ensure that every death sentence imposed through judicial override is corrected, while carrying out a severe punishment of life imprisonment without parole.
Help make sure no one is executed via judicial override.
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