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By Sym Posey | The Birmingham Times
At 75, Alonzo Hurth has lived enough life to understand that freedom is more than walking through a prison gate.
It is knowing that your future is still yours to shape.
Hurth spent 27 years incarcerated in Alabama. At the time of his conviction, he was sentenced to life without parole.
But Hurth never completely accepted that as his ending.
“I always felt like it was possible for me to get out of prison one day,” he said. “I always felt like that.”
That belief was rooted in his faith. Hurth said he remained convinced that God would make a way for him to leave prison.
In June 2021, that day came. Hurth’s case was overturned, allowing him to walk free after nearly three decades behind bars.
Hurth’s path to freedom came through legal assistance from Alabama Appleseed Center for Law and Justice. Dori Miles, who is involved with the League of Women Voters’ voter rights restoration work and is co-founder of Return My Vote, a nonprofit focused almost exclusively on voting rights restoration, also helped with Hurth’s case.
Now, instead of distancing himself from the prison system, Hurth voluntarily returns.
He goes into Alabama prisons to talk with incarcerated men, encourage them and remind them that their circumstances do not have to define the rest of their lives.
A life interrupted
Hurth was born in Decatur, Alabama, and eventually moved to Birmingham.
Before his incarceration, he worked as a cook.
He loved cooking and said finding work in kitchens was never particularly difficult for him. He worked at restaurants on Birmingham’s Southside.
At 42, Hurth’s life changed when he was sentenced to life without parole for a robbery conviction without physical injury. If sentenced today, Hurth would be eligible for a 13-year sentence with 3 to 5 years to serve in prison. Yet, he spent 27 years incarcerated, including time at the Donaldson Correctional Facility near Bessemer.
Hurth said he believes his sentence was excessive and that he was sentenced under Alabama’s habitual offender law despite not qualifying as a habitual offender.
“If I had had an attorney in the beginning, I never would’ve received that much time,” he said.
While incarcerated, Hurth worked to make something of his circumstances. He earned his GED. He worked as a hospital runner. And he maintained his faith.
Even while serving a life-without-parole sentence, Hurth said he never completely believed that prison would be his final destination. His belief that he would one day be free eventually became a reality.
The day everything changed
Thanks to the work of Alabama Appleseed Center for Law and Justice and people like Dori Miles of the League of Women Voters and Return My Vote, Hurth’s case was eventually overturned. After 27 years, he was released on June 21, 2021.
Hurth said his voting rights were terminated following his conviction, but that he later sought to have those rights restored. He credited Miles and other members of the League of Women Voters with advocating on his behalf, including going to the courthouse to argue that he deserved to regain his rights because he had been illegally sentenced.
Return My Vote, a nonprofit focused almost exclusively on voting rights restoration, also helped with Hurth’s case. (Provided)When asked how often he tries to vote, Hurth responded, “I don’t try, I get down there every time they open [voting polls] up.” He added, “One vote can make a big difference.”
Freedom did not erase the years Hurth had spent incarcerated. Instead, it gave him a new understanding of what it means to leave prison — and how difficult that transition can be. That understanding is now part of the reason he continues returning.
Hurth regularly goes into prison programs, generally on Wednesdays and sometimes twice a week, alongside Chaplain Dave, a former assistant chaplain at West Jefferson Correctional Facility whom Hurth has known for about 27 years.
Sometimes they host Bible study. Sometimes they simply talk.
And increasingly, Hurth is becoming a bridge between men still inside and resources available to them once they leave.
Helping others find their way home
Hurth described a new effort designed to help men preparing to return to society.
The initiative is intended to connect men nearing release with financial assistance, housing resources, transportation and other necessities.
The goal is simple: help people leave prison with more than the clothes on their backs and the uncertainty of what comes next. Hurth said the program could help people find a place to stay, assist with rent and provide bus cards and other resources.
For Hurth, the effort is personal. He knows what it means to walk out of prison after decades away and have to figure out how to navigate a world that continued changing while he was gone. He also knows how valuable it can be to have someone who understands that experience.
“It’s good to know somebody when you get out of prison,” he said.
Going back and giving back
There is something striking about Hurth’s decision to repeatedly return to the place where he spent nearly three decades. He does not describe those visits as punishment or obligation. He sees them as an opportunity.
During one visit, he learned that several men he had previously met at West Jefferson had been transferred to another facility. Three of them were preparing for release.
Hurth immediately saw another opportunity to connect with them and encourage them.
The man who once left prison after 27 years now has something those men need: experience.
He knows what it feels like to have freedom suddenly placed back in your hands.
He knows the uncertainty. He knows the importance of faith. And he knows that a person’s life does not have to end at the point where a judge once said it would.
A second chance at 75
Hurth was 42 when he entered prison and 69 when he walked out. Now at 75, he is going back inside — but this time by choice, trying to give others hope.
Hurth’s story shows why organizations such as the League of Women Voters and its partners emphasize the importance of helping formerly incarcerated people understand their rights and reconnect with their communities.
For someone who has spent decades separated from society, rebuilding a life is about more than finding a job or securing housing. It is about reclaiming identity.
And for Hurth, it is about helping the person behind him believe that there is a life waiting beyond the prison walls.
Alonzo Hurth walked free from Donaldson Correctional Facility after 27 years of incarceration for robbery. (Provided)
