Lawmakers Tackle Alabama’s Persistent Prison Problems
Alabama’s prisons are overcrowded, understaffed, and plagued by violence. A federal judge ruled mental health care for inmates is “horrendously inadequate.” There have been 15 suicides in as many months – including one earlier this month. Two inmates were stabbed and killed recently as well. While overcrowding has eased slightly, state lawmakers know there’s more work to do. WBHM’s Andrew Yeager spoke with state Sen. Cam Ward, a leading voice on prison issues, to get a sense of where lawmakers stand during this legislative session.
Interview Highlights
How lawmakers view the prison system currently:
“I think the appetite is more in light of some of the violence you’ve seen inside the prisons … It has a huge impact on it, not only the discussion inside the statehouse but also what some of the things the court has said. The court has clearly said these conditions are no longer acceptable. So I think the court’s order, in addition to the daily publicity of the horror inside the prisons, has changed the perspective of a lot of lawmakers.”
What lawmakers can do:
“Primarily it’s going to be a financial issue. You’ve got to pay for it. None of this is going to be free. You’re going to have to come up with the money in your budget to pay for it and that’s why I think last year we did $90 million additional dollars in the budget. This year we’re going to do another $40 million on top of that. So it’s primarily numbers and hiring the staff necessary to staff the prisons. That’s a big part of our problem right now.”
How he views Gov. Kay Ivey’s proposal to build three regional mens prisons, possibly through a lease:
“I think she has a very good plan and here’s why: It doesn’t require us to take out or borrow money to incur indebtedness. It doesn’t require you to increase the Department of Corrections budget. And what she’s doing is by leasing it back from an entity that builds it, you would in all essence be running and operating prisons the way we do now, just whoever holds the lease to the building would be a different person. It would be run and operated by us, just like we do now. And it would help alleviate some of the security concerns that a lot of officers have in the current facilities, which right now we’re just band-aiding back together … It pays for them by closing older decrepit buildings that are requiring huge amounts of money each year for maintenance.”
Colorado senator on Schumer: ‘It’s important for people to know when it’s time to go’
Colorado Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet stopped short Wednesday of calling on Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer to step down from leadership, but came pretty darn close.
Malaysia approves a new search for MH370 wreckage in the Indian Ocean
The Boeing 777 plane vanished from radar shortly after taking off on March 8, 2014, carrying 239 people. The plane headed south to the far-southern Indian Ocean, where it is believed to have crashed.
Canada says China executed four Canadians earlier this year
Beijing's embassy in Ottawa said the executions were due to drug crimes and noted that China does not recognize dual citizenship.
Trump to sign order aiming to close the Education Department
The Trump administration has already moved to cut the department's staff by half.
Jury says Greenpeace owes hundreds of millions of dollars for Dakota pipeline protest
Experts say the verdict has relevance for free speech issues nationwide.
Birmingham mayor warns violators after Alabama bans gun conversion devices
The devices convert semi-automatic guns to fire like a fully automatic weapon. A bipartisan coalition pushed the Alabama legislation after several mass shootings last year, including the deaths of four people outside a Birmingham nightclub in September.
