Montgomery, Alabama – As communities around the nation reflect on the values of justice and equity, particularly during a season marked by religious commemoration, attention turns toward Alabama’s contentious death penalty practices. The state has recently been spotlighted for its continued use of judicial overrides and non-unanimous jury sentences in death penalty cases, methods that have drawn critical scrutiny and generated significant debate regarding their fairness and constitutionality.
At present, Alabama is noted for having 167 inmates on death row. Of these, 30 were sentenced through judicial override, a process where judges have the power to impose a death sentence contrary to a jury’s recommendation for life in prison without parole. Additionally, Alabama boasts a troubling figure of 115 inmates who were sentenced to death by non-unanimous juries, a practice that allows for death sentences to be handed down without a full consensus among all jurors.
This issue reached a critical point in the context of the 2020 Supreme Court decision in Ramos v. Louisiana, which mandated unanimous jury verdicts to convict defendants of serious crimes, including those punishable by death. While the ruling underscored the racial biases tied to non-unanimous verdicts, which have historical roots stretching back to the Jim Crow era, it surprisingly did not extend to the sentencing phase of trials, thus leaving a gap that some states have moved to close.
Alabama stands out as the sole state that has not yet eliminated non-unanimous jury verdicts for sentencing, maintaining a practice that disproportionately affects African American defendants. Presently, of the 115 on death row by this decree, 54 are Black – a stark illustration of racial disparities.
Highlighting the gravity of this ongoing issue, the execution of Kenneth Eugene Smith in January 2024 underlines the severe implications of judicial overrides. Smith was sentenced to death despite a jury’s overwhelming vote (11 to 1) in favor of life imprisonment. This incident, among others, propels ongoing debates around the ethics and legality of such sentencing practices.
The controversy extends to political reactions and reforms. In 2017, Governor Kay Ivey signed legislation that terminated the allowance of judicial overrides following a Supreme Court ruling in Hurst v. Florida (2016), which emphasized that it’s a jury’s responsibility to find each fact necessary to impose a death sentence. This decision led to nationwide abolition of the override practice; however, the legislative change in Alabama does not apply retroactively, leaving those sentenced via override prior to the law change in limbo on death row.
In a notable exception to the pattern of overrides, Governor Ivey commuted the death sentence of Rocky Myers in March 2025, citing a lack of physical evidence linking him to the crime scene. Myers had been sentenced to death even though his jury voted 9 to 3 for life imprisonment. This act of mercy sparked a mixed reaction, with Alabama’s Attorney General expressing disappointment, a sentiment that reflects deep-seated divisions over the death penalty.
The ongoing practices raise broader questions about fairness and racial justice in Alabama’s criminal justice system. Studies and statistics reveal a pattern of potential racial bias and prosecutorial misconduct, which have significantly contributed to the high number of exonerations. According to the Death Penalty Information Center, since 1976, for every 8.3 executions, there has been one exoneration, suggesting a concerning rate of wrongful convictions.
This situation points to a critical need for further legal reforms and a deeper examination of how death penalty laws are applied. The disproportionate impact on African Americans and the historical underpinnings of current practices warrant a meaningful response from all stakeholders to ensure that justice in Alabama adheres to constitutional values and moral expectations.
Regardless of one’s stance on the death penalty, the essential agreement should be that the process must be carried out constitutionally, without the shadows of racial bias or outdated practices influencing outcomes.
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