This week Alabama lawmakers considered a bill that would make abortions a felony unless the mother's health is at risk. And it wrestled with a solution to the state's prisons crisis.
As Alabama prisons continue to grapple with a federal lawsuit over mental health care, officials say they have a plan: they want to build three big regional prisons for men.
A gas tax increase, more money for prisons, and a pre-kindergarten expansion were among the legislative priorities Gov. Kay Ivey highlighted in her State of the State address on Tuesday.
Governor Kay Ivey announced Tuesday a plan to replace existing prison facilities with three regional men's prisons to address "violence, poor living conditions and mental illness" in Alabama's corrections system.
Gov. Kay Ivey and the Alabama Department of Corrections aren’t yet talking publicly about possible fixes for the state’s crowded and aging prisons, but they are extending a multimillion-dollar contract with an outside project manager to study construction needs.
The Southern Poverty Law Center wants the state prison system held in contempt for failing to fill mental health positions. Contempt hearings began Tuesday in U.S. District Court involving the Alabama Department of Corrections and lawyers representing inmates.