Alabama legislation requiring the public release of police-worn body camera footage was defeated Wednesday in a Senate committee.

The Senate Judiciary Committee voted down SB14 by an 8-4 vote. The legislation, sponsored by Sen. Merika Coleman, D-Birmingham, would have made bodycam and dash cam video footage a matter of public record, requiring release within 30 days of a request to view it. It also would have made the footage accessible to families who requested to view it.

The legislation also would have allowed the public to appeal to a circuit judge if law enforcement denied their request to view the footage. The judge would then have the authority to decide if the footage should be released, according to the bill.

“This piece of legislation is not an indictment on law enforcement,” Coleman told the committee during a morning hearing at the Statehouse in Montgomery. “The sooner we can get it out, you can (quash) rumors. If we can get the bodycam video out as soon as possible, we can identify the bad apples. If police are handling (their duties) within procedures, we can get that out as well.”

Inspired by deadly encounters

The legislation was named after two Black men who were killed during altercations with police last year, both which sparked protests and demonstrations in two Alabama cities: Steven Perkins, 39, who was shot and killed by police in his front yard in middle of the night on Sept. 29, in Decatur; and Jawan Dallas, 39, who died after an altercation that involved Tasing by two Mobile police officers on July 2 in Theodore.

In both cases, requests from the media and the victim’s families to review the bodycam footage were denied. Footage of Perkins’ deadly encounter with police was leaked to conservative website 1819 News in March. The bodycam footage of the Dallas death was shown to his family in November, more than five months after the incident occurred and only after the case had been disposed by a Mobile County grand jury. Neither footage has been released publicly.

The public release of bodycam footage has been shot down before by the state Supreme Court. With an 8-1 ruling in 2021, the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that police bodycam and dashcam videos are investigative materials and exempt from disclosure requirements of the state public records law.

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Coleman, who was at a rally hosted by the Poor People’s Campaign in December in Mobile, said the impediments the Dallas family faced inspired her to sponsor the legislation.

“My major concern is allowing these families to have access,” she said. “A lot of times we can stop rumors and public discourse (by releasing the footage publicly). But my major concern is making sure these families have access to the body cam.”

Timing concerns

Some lawmakers expressed concerns about the 30-day time frame, saying it could create difficulties for criminal defendants.

“There should be a mechanism for a family to see what happened,” said Sen. Lance Bell, R-Pell City, a lawyer and prosecutor with the St. Clair County District Attorney’s Office. “But I know of at least two cases, if the body cam footage had gotten out early, it would ‘ve hurt both sides badly.”

He said in most of the cases he’s involved with, an early release of the body cam footage would “prejudice my client in the community before trial.”

Sen. Will Barfoot, R-Pike Road, and chairman of the Judiciary Committee, said releasing the footage within a month of an incident could “victimize again and again the victim of a crime.”

Republicans were not the only ones with concerns. Sen. Rodger Smitherman, D-Birmingham, who is a longtime attorney in Birmingham and a graduate of Miles Law School, said he is concerned about releasing the bodycam footage publicly before a case is adjudicated.

“I don’t have a problem with the family seeking whenever they want,” Smitherman said. “But releasing it to the whole world? There is no way to have an equitable trial.”

At least one lawmaker felt the bill did provide a good remedy by including a judge into the decisions on whether footage can be released.

“What gives me solace in the bill is if there is a dispute between law enforcement … then we can go to the circuit judge and allow them to decide,” said Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur. “It may hurt the defense or the prosecutor, but we involved the judge and let the judge decide on this. I think … you have a safe measure here in taking it to a judge if it causes a problem between prosecution and defense.”

Addressing state restrictions

Coleman said her legislation was also aimed addressing holes in the state’s bodycam law that was approved last year.

She said the state’s newest law that went into effect last September has “no teeth” in providing bodycam access to families who request the footage. She said the law only allowed people whose image or voice is subject to bodycam footage to file a written request to review it. But even in those cases, the agency receiving the request has the options to show the video or simply notify the requestor it is denying the release.

In the Perkins and Dallas cases, the policing agencies involved simply denied the requests.

Coleman, who introduced the legislation during a news conference in Mobile in December, said she has attempted to reach out to law enforcement groups – particularly the Alabama District Attorneys Association – to discuss the legislation. She said no one has responded to her inquires.

The District Attorney’s Association did not respond to an immediate request for comment.

Coleman was criticized by some of her fellow Democratic colleagues at the time she introduced the legislation, as they noted she was running for the Democratic nomination in the 2nd congressional district race. Coleman has since said that the legislation had nothing to do with her congressional run.

Coleman said she plans to bring the legislation back next year. She said her focus will be to ensure that families have access to footage.

“I think the fight continues,” she said. “My bill was crafted when I was down in Mobile at the town hall meeting addressing the Jawan Dallas family, and his passing away in police custody. Of course, there is the Perkins family. And there are many other cases. We talked about today spending this time and building a coalition of folks to make sure we have a piece of body cam legislation that is passed giving families some relief.”