Putting an end to Alabama’s habitual offender act which activists say bloats the state’s already overcrowded prisons is one of the top priorities for one advocacy group when the state’s legislature begins Feb. 6.

Elliot Spillers, a representative from criminal legal reform advocacy nonprofit Alabama Appleseed, detailed the organization’s legislative goals for the upcoming legislative session at an event in Fairhope on Thursday. The group’s agenda includes overturning the “Habitual Felony Offender Act,” which increases punishments for repeat offenders.

Alabama Appleseed introduced the “Second Chance Bill” last session to repeal the act, but efforts stalled.

“(The bill) will ideally impact hundreds of individuals who are currently incarcerated,” Spillers said. “If you’ve looked at the news recently, you are aware that our prisons are highly overpopulated, and they are inhumane.”

Spillers was among advocates, Alabama civil rights leaders and one state legislator gathered with over 50 citizens in Fairhope on Thursday night to talk shop about legislative priorities.

The community event, themed “sharing our vision for a better Alabama,” was sponsored by Alabama Arise, the League of Women Voters of Baldwin County and NAACP Baldwin County at the Fairhope Unitarian Fellowship.

Issues of the evening included Medicaid expansion, maternal and infant care, criminal justice reform, and voting rights.

The lone legislator in attendance, State Representative Jennifer Fidler (R-Fairhope), faced wide-ranging, challenging questions from her District 94 constituents about topics ranging from voter access to Medicare and library boards. Fidler, who was formerly Fairhope’s public works director, was elected Nov. 8, 2022.

Fidler mostly spoke about updates to the Education Trust Fund and a few of her present legislative priorities, including Baldwin County Board of Equalization pay raises and shoreline strengthening projects, but she admitted she wasn’t prepared to discuss the details of all of her goals.

The Q&A portion of the event largely focused on Fidler, who was met with frustration by some of the crowd as she detailed her policy positions and conceded that she’d need to take extra time to review some of the topics she was asked about. Other leaders, however, commended her for her attendance.

“This concept that she can know everything in the bills is not real,” said David Stout, legislative affairs coordinator at Alabama Arise, explaining to attendees that “the most impressive thing” is that she came at all. “It is sad that more legislators weren’t here. It used to be that with crowds this big, every legislator would be here.”

Anne Johnson, a member of the League of Women Voters, said she wished she walked away with a little more information from the representative, but she was uplifted to see the event’s attendance.

“It shows they’re out here,” she said. “There are people who care about their community, care about progressive issues.”