The Alabama House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly yesterday to pass legislation to give judges more discretion in denying bail to people accused of committing violent crimes.
The legislation, House Bill 81, is named for Aniah Blanchard, a 19-year-old Alabama college student who was kidnapped and murdered last year. The man charged with her murder, Ibraheed Yazeed, was out on bond for charges including kidnapping and attempted murder at the time he was arrested in connection with Blanchard’s case.
Section 16 of the 1901 Constitution of Alabama currently requires that “all persons shall, before conviction, be bailable by sufficient sureties, except for capital offenses, when the proof is evident or the presumption great; and that excessive bail shall not, in any case, be required.”
This bill would allow judges to deny bail in cases involving certain violent offences and it amends the Constitution to read: ”If no conditions of release can reasonably protect the community from risk of physical harm to the accused, the public, or both, ensure the presence of the accused at trial, or ensure the integrity of the judicial process, the accused may be detained without bail. Excessive bail shall not in any case be imposed or required.”
Blanchard’s father, Elijah Blanchard, stepmother, Yashiba Blanchard, and mother, Angela Harris, were in the House gallery and received a standing after the bill passed by a vote of 104-0.
The legislation, sponsored by Rep. Chip Brown, R-Mobile, goes to the Alabama Senate next for consideration.
