The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Alabama has released a new report denouncing the Alabama Legislature’s introduction of 148 “pipeline bills” increasing criminal punishment and incarceration instead of ideas that would help resolve prison overcrowding or reforms such as more options for voting, reports AL.com. The report says the push for this kind of legislation and adopting policies it considers unconstitutional will worsen problems like the state prison crisis.
Among the legislation criticized in the report is the law making it a crime to provide puberty blockers and hormones for transgender minors to help them transition and a bill that defines rioting and imposes mandatory jail time after an arrest for rioting, which the ACLU says will stifle peaceful protest. The legislation has been blocked by a federal court, while the rioting bill failed to pass entirely. In addition, only 32 of the “pipeline bills” passed, most of which were local laws that affected only one county, such as new fees collected by law enforcement.