Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
John Mounts in for JT. And we're joined in studio
as we always are on Friday by Paul DeMarco and Paul.
Welcome to the show.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Thank you, glad to be with y'all.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
So this week we had some movement with it. Now,
first of all, let's back up a little bit, because
to the average person, they go pardons and parole board.
Why do I care about the partons? I'm not a criminal.
Why do I care? So why should we care, Paul?
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Because the Alabama state law allows for paroles in our state,
and you've had a problem in the past with the
Parole Board failing the citizens of the state of Alabama
by allowing violent felons to be released, which resulted in
(00:43):
a violent felon being released, not supervised, and killing three
people in Marshall County back in twenty eighteen, which required
the state legislature to say, we've got a failing parole
board that is not doing their job and it's just
really leasing folks. Willy nilly, Why why are they doing that?
Speaker 1 (01:04):
But like what behooves them to just let you off.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
Because you have you had some pro board members who
were not doing their job, I mean, for starters, let's
start with this for your listening audience. When someone says
they get life in jail, that doesn't mean life. They
say they have twenty years. We do not have truth
in sentencing in Alabama with the state system. With the
(01:27):
federal it's a lot closer that you're gonna have to
serve most of the Senator sentence to We don't have
that in Alabama. We don't have truth in sentencing. We
need truth in sentencing because when a victim hears that
someone has been sentenced this amount of time in jail,
they expect them to serve that. We don't have that
going on in Alabama, and so they come up for
parole at an earlier time than what their sentence was.
(01:49):
And the problem is if you have a parole board
that says, oh, we're going to let them out, you
have the same situation. Particularly most importantly in Alabama, our
prisons are not filled with folks who shoplifted some playing
cards or some cigarettes or somebody who was caught smoking marijuana.
Eighty eighty five percent are violent felons, and that's where
(02:13):
it is important to pay attention to what's going on
with the pro board.
Speaker 1 (02:16):
So the pro board is made up of how many members, Like,
there are three individuals, three people in the prole Board,
and there's a head guy, and then chair of the
pro Board that runs the meetings is in charge of
the pro Board. And that's who Kivy is looking at replacing.
Speaker 2 (02:31):
Did replace save?
Speaker 1 (02:32):
Replace?
Speaker 2 (02:33):
League Walthney was the chair of the pro Board who
was appointed by Governor k Ivy after major reforms were
made to the pro Board in twenty nineteen because we
had a failing parole board. So this was the governor's appointment.
This past week, the governor did not reappoint League Walthney.
The past four years, you've had fewer violent felons released
(02:56):
from prison. It's a good thing, right, I would think.
Speaker 1 (02:59):
So.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
Didn't we just have the most violent year in Birmingham
last year? Yeah?
Speaker 1 (03:04):
Ever, and if you.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
Look across the state, go ask the folks who live
in Montgomery how how violent it was down there. And
if you start looking at some of the folks committing
some of the violent crimes, you know, these aren't folks
who just left a boy Scout meeting. Yeah, these are
bad guys. These are folks who have committed crimes. To
look at the individual who was at twenty one killed
twenty one.
Speaker 1 (03:26):
People, right that we know now, I mean that that
we know of. There's probably there's probably more in there
that we haven't we haven't found yet. But and and well,
you know the Yah's law that came out of because
that was somebody who never should have been out on
the streets either.
Speaker 2 (03:41):
That's exactly right. So when you have a revolving door,
both at the courthouse or at the state prison system,
I mean, look at the you know, we've seen the
cases with the two deputies who were shot up in
Sheffield and in bib County, those individuals who were out
on the street, and folks that they should have never
been been out on the street. So we just had
one out in Chilton County and they're like, how this
(04:03):
guy should have never been out? I think it was
a rape charge. So that's why it's so important to
pay attention what's going on the pro board. And we
had a chair who was doing the job. She was
doing the job that lea that the governor asked her
to do. The Attorney General and I think seventy five
prosecutors la enforce said Governor Ivy, please reappoint League Walthney
as parole board chair. She didn't do it, and there's
(04:25):
a lot of folks scratching their head today. Why not.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
Well, so if you didn't reappoint her, what happens as
if somebody else said.
Speaker 2 (04:32):
She appointed someone else to the chair. But the concern
is there's been a big push by folks on the
left and these far left advocacy groups in Montgomery to
replace League Lothney so that more people will be released
from parole who are violent felons. Now we can talk
to your listening audience. Do they want more violent felons
(04:55):
released on the street to commit more crimes when they
haven't served the sentence that a jury found them guilty
and a judge sentenced them. Is that what we want
in Alabama? No?
Speaker 1 (05:07):
Is this because of overcrowding or is this because we
feel bad and we want these people?
Speaker 2 (05:11):
Because there are people that want I mean, there are
groups who want more violent felons released on the street.
I know you're like, well, that doesn't make any sense
to me.
Speaker 1 (05:21):
But I mean the people the stated reason why they
say they have to let them out is because they're saying,
because we don't have enough space in the prisons, so
we need well, I.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
Mean, why why are they saying as they say that.
You know, it's the same reason folks that we shouldn't
have prisons. I mean, there are groups that say we
shouldn't have prisons or that folks shouldn't go to jail. Period.
It's the same mentality that we have the folks who
don't want to fund the police department, the folks who
are anti police. They're folks who I mean, I know
(05:50):
for somebody like you, like two plus two equals four,
that equals five. It doesn't seem logical. But we have
some people that public safety is not their priority, and
all of us need to ask, isn't public safety the
number one priority that every elected official from dog catcher
to governor to the present United States in that their
(06:10):
most important priority is keeping our families ourselves safe, whether
it's on a national or international stage or at the
local corner, that's the most important. And so now we've
got some problems in Alabama and it's going to get worse.
I tell you, We've had a par board that was
not releasing violent felons, and my prediction, unfortunately is you're
(06:35):
going to start seeing more violent felons released in the
next year with the makeup of the parle board, and.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
There are sense of recidivism race that you're going to
go up and we're going to see more of this
revolving door kind of thing. Paul, I think, I think
you're probably right about all that. Sitting in right next
to me is Paul DeMarco and Paul, we were talking
about some other things that are going on in and
around our community and the situation with the shooting of Jabari,
people's and the I think there's a whole lot of
(07:02):
people who are getting up a whole lot of controversy
that the facts just don't support.
Speaker 2 (07:09):
At this point, it's clear we're waiting on Aliyah to
conduct their investigation. Once they conduct their investigation, they will
turn those results over to the District Attorney's office to
proceed forward. The police department has provided a narrative of
what happened that evening this point, the investigation is under
(07:31):
Aliyah and that's where we stand.
Speaker 1 (07:33):
And that's the reason why the body cam footage hasn't
been released is because there's an ongoing investigation and as
I understand it, once that that footage gets out there,
it could it could change people's understanding of what happened.
You can't interview people at that point and have them
remember what they saw, because now they're going to see
what they thought they saw in a video that might
not tell the story. It tells a part of the story,
(07:54):
but doesn't tell the whole story. You know, if you're
interested in a narrative, to me, you're political, you'll say
release it immediately. If you're saying it is fair to
everyone involved, both the individual that was shot and the
police officer and the criminal justice system, you have an
(08:14):
investigation that is not biased, that it's conducted professionally, and
that's what Aleah is doing. So you've got to have
Aliah given the time. It may not be as quick
as everybody wants it to be, but you have to
rely on the investigators to do what they need to do.
When it comes to a ballistic test, forensic test, interviewing witnesses,
conducting their complete investigation. These things don't happen overnight. I mean,
(08:36):
particularly when it comes to forensic toxicology, ballistic tests. Doing
everything you do, I mean when all that is at
stake and as much that surrounds an investigation, when something happens,
when a police officer is forced to shoot someone. You
can't rush it because there are folks who want to
use this for political stands. So that's where we are.
Speaker 2 (08:59):
Ultimately, as in every case, it will be turned over
to the district attorney with the results of the investigation.
Bottom line, we need to get it right, absolutely for
everybody involved. Everybody involved. Let the investigation, and again it's
not as fast as folks want, but it's not about speed,
(09:20):
it's about getting it right.
Speaker 1 (09:21):
I agree. Paul de Marco
John Mounts in for JT. And we're joined in studio
as we always are on Friday by Paul DeMarco and Paul.
Welcome to the show.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Thank you, glad to be with y'all.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
So this week we had some movement with it. Now,
first of all, let's back up a little bit, because
to the average person, they go pardons and parole board.
Why do I care about the partons? I'm not a criminal.
Why do I care? So why should we care, Paul?
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Because the Alabama state law allows for paroles in our state,
and you've had a problem in the past with the
Parole Board failing the citizens of the state of Alabama
by allowing violent felons to be released, which resulted in
(00:43):
a violent felon being released, not supervised, and killing three
people in Marshall County back in twenty eighteen, which required
the state legislature to say, we've got a failing parole
board that is not doing their job and it's just
really leasing folks. Willy nilly, Why why are they doing that?
Speaker 1 (01:04):
But like what behooves them to just let you off.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
Because you have you had some pro board members who
were not doing their job, I mean, for starters, let's
start with this for your listening audience. When someone says
they get life in jail, that doesn't mean life. They
say they have twenty years. We do not have truth
in sentencing in Alabama with the state system. With the
(01:27):
federal it's a lot closer that you're gonna have to
serve most of the Senator sentence to We don't have
that in Alabama. We don't have truth in sentencing. We
need truth in sentencing because when a victim hears that
someone has been sentenced this amount of time in jail,
they expect them to serve that. We don't have that
going on in Alabama, and so they come up for
parole at an earlier time than what their sentence was.
(01:49):
And the problem is if you have a parole board
that says, oh, we're going to let them out, you
have the same situation. Particularly most importantly in Alabama, our
prisons are not filled with folks who shoplifted some playing
cards or some cigarettes or somebody who was caught smoking marijuana.
Eighty eighty five percent are violent felons, and that's where
(02:13):
it is important to pay attention to what's going on
with the pro board.
Speaker 1 (02:16):
So the pro board is made up of how many members, Like,
there are three individuals, three people in the prole Board,
and there's a head guy, and then chair of the
pro Board that runs the meetings is in charge of
the pro Board. And that's who Kivy is looking at replacing.
Speaker 2 (02:31):
Did replace save?
Speaker 1 (02:32):
Replace?
Speaker 2 (02:33):
League Walthney was the chair of the pro Board who
was appointed by Governor k Ivy after major reforms were
made to the pro Board in twenty nineteen because we
had a failing parole board. So this was the governor's appointment.
This past week, the governor did not reappoint League Walthney.
The past four years, you've had fewer violent felons released
(02:56):
from prison. It's a good thing, right, I would think.
Speaker 1 (02:59):
So.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
Didn't we just have the most violent year in Birmingham
last year? Yeah?
Speaker 1 (03:04):
Ever, and if you.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
Look across the state, go ask the folks who live
in Montgomery how how violent it was down there. And
if you start looking at some of the folks committing
some of the violent crimes, you know, these aren't folks
who just left a boy Scout meeting. Yeah, these are
bad guys. These are folks who have committed crimes. To
look at the individual who was at twenty one killed
twenty one.
Speaker 1 (03:26):
People, right that we know now, I mean that that
we know of. There's probably there's probably more in there
that we haven't we haven't found yet. But and and well,
you know the Yah's law that came out of because
that was somebody who never should have been out on
the streets either.
Speaker 2 (03:41):
That's exactly right. So when you have a revolving door,
both at the courthouse or at the state prison system,
I mean, look at the you know, we've seen the
cases with the two deputies who were shot up in
Sheffield and in bib County, those individuals who were out
on the street, and folks that they should have never
been been out on the street. So we just had
one out in Chilton County and they're like, how this
(04:03):
guy should have never been out? I think it was
a rape charge. So that's why it's so important to
pay attention what's going on the pro board. And we
had a chair who was doing the job. She was
doing the job that lea that the governor asked her
to do. The Attorney General and I think seventy five
prosecutors la enforce said Governor Ivy, please reappoint League Walthney
as parole board chair. She didn't do it, and there's
(04:25):
a lot of folks scratching their head today. Why not.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
Well, so if you didn't reappoint her, what happens as
if somebody else said.
Speaker 2 (04:32):
She appointed someone else to the chair. But the concern
is there's been a big push by folks on the
left and these far left advocacy groups in Montgomery to
replace League Lothney so that more people will be released
from parole who are violent felons. Now we can talk
to your listening audience. Do they want more violent felons
(04:55):
released on the street to commit more crimes when they
haven't served the sentence that a jury found them guilty
and a judge sentenced them. Is that what we want
in Alabama? No?
Speaker 1 (05:07):
Is this because of overcrowding or is this because we
feel bad and we want these people?
Speaker 2 (05:11):
Because there are people that want I mean, there are
groups who want more violent felons released on the street.
I know you're like, well, that doesn't make any sense
to me.
Speaker 1 (05:21):
But I mean the people the stated reason why they
say they have to let them out is because they're saying,
because we don't have enough space in the prisons, so
we need well, I.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
Mean, why why are they saying as they say that.
You know, it's the same reason folks that we shouldn't
have prisons. I mean, there are groups that say we
shouldn't have prisons or that folks shouldn't go to jail. Period.
It's the same mentality that we have the folks who
don't want to fund the police department, the folks who
are anti police. They're folks who I mean, I know
(05:50):
for somebody like you, like two plus two equals four,
that equals five. It doesn't seem logical. But we have
some people that public safety is not their priority, and
all of us need to ask, isn't public safety the
number one priority that every elected official from dog catcher
to governor to the present United States in that their
(06:10):
most important priority is keeping our families ourselves safe, whether
it's on a national or international stage or at the
local corner, that's the most important. And so now we've
got some problems in Alabama and it's going to get worse.
I tell you, We've had a par board that was
not releasing violent felons, and my prediction, unfortunately is you're
(06:35):
going to start seeing more violent felons released in the
next year with the makeup of the parle board, and.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
There are sense of recidivism race that you're going to
go up and we're going to see more of this
revolving door kind of thing. Paul, I think, I think
you're probably right about all that. Sitting in right next
to me is Paul DeMarco and Paul, we were talking
about some other things that are going on in and
around our community and the situation with the shooting of Jabari,
people's and the I think there's a whole lot of
(07:02):
people who are getting up a whole lot of controversy
that the facts just don't support.
Speaker 2 (07:09):
At this point, it's clear we're waiting on Aliyah to
conduct their investigation. Once they conduct their investigation, they will
turn those results over to the District Attorney's office to
proceed forward. The police department has provided a narrative of
what happened that evening this point, the investigation is under
(07:31):
Aliyah and that's where we stand.
Speaker 1 (07:33):
And that's the reason why the body cam footage hasn't
been released is because there's an ongoing investigation and as
I understand it, once that that footage gets out there,
it could it could change people's understanding of what happened.
You can't interview people at that point and have them
remember what they saw, because now they're going to see
what they thought they saw in a video that might
not tell the story. It tells a part of the story,
(07:54):
but doesn't tell the whole story. You know, if you're
interested in a narrative, to me, you're political, you'll say
release it immediately. If you're saying it is fair to
everyone involved, both the individual that was shot and the
police officer and the criminal justice system, you have an
(08:14):
investigation that is not biased, that it's conducted professionally, and
that's what Aleah is doing. So you've got to have
Aliah given the time. It may not be as quick
as everybody wants it to be, but you have to
rely on the investigators to do what they need to do.
When it comes to a ballistic test, forensic test, interviewing witnesses,
conducting their complete investigation. These things don't happen overnight. I mean,
(08:36):
particularly when it comes to forensic toxicology, ballistic tests. Doing
everything you do, I mean when all that is at
stake and as much that surrounds an investigation, when something happens,
when a police officer is forced to shoot someone. You
can't rush it because there are folks who want to
use this for political stands. So that's where we are.
Speaker 2 (08:59):
Ultimately, as in every case, it will be turned over
to the district attorney with the results of the investigation.
Bottom line, we need to get it right, absolutely for
everybody involved. Everybody involved. Let the investigation, and again it's
not as fast as folks want, but it's not about speed,
(09:20):
it's about getting it right.
Speaker 1 (09:21):
I agree. Paul de Marco
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