2022 Alabama Amendment 1
2022 referendum
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Alabama Amendment 1, officially the Allow Denial of Bail for Offenses Enumerated by State Legislature Amendment, and commonly referred to as Aniah's Law, is an legislatively referred constitutional amendment that appeared on the ballot in the U.S. state of Alabama on November 8, 2022, concurrent with the 2022 United States elections. The amendment was approved by voters.[2]
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November 8, 2022
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Allow Denial of Bail for Offenses Enumerated by State Legislature Amendment | |||||||||||||||||||
| Results | |||||||||||||||||||
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Yes >90% 80–90% 70–80% 60–70% 50–60%
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| Source: Alabama Secretary of State[1] | |||||||||||||||||||
Background
The killing of Aniah Blanchard led to a statewide response after it was revealed that the killer had been previously released from jail on bond after being charged with kidnapping, robbery, and attempted murder.[3] A constitutional amendment to expand the list of felonies that an individual could be denied bail first was first considered as early as 2019.[4] Blanchard's mother spoke in front of the Alabama Legislature about a possible amendment as well.[5]
The amendment was passed by the Alabama House of Representatives with a unanimous vote.[6] It then passed the Alabama Senate with 30 in favor and 0 against, officially placing it on the November 2022 ballot.[7]
Impact
The amendment changed the Constitution of Alabama to allow bail to be denied to individuals who committed certain felonies.[7]