Parole denied for 90% of Alabama inmates, a new low

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Records show the rate of state inmates being granted parole in Alabama has plummeted to a new low.

The three-member board granted parole to 409 inmates and turned down 3,593 others in the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30.

The board last week denied parole to a 71-year-old woman who is confined to a wheelchair and is in end-stage kidney failure.

Critics of the decline say the board is not following its guidelines on who should win parole and denial has become the default decision.

Alabama’s attorney general defended the low parole rate, saying “the paramount duty of the board is to ensure public safety.”