Prisons

I was happy, but somewhat amazed, to hear Governor Riley defend the state's responsibility toward prisoners yesterday:

"I'm disappointed the budget they passed makes funding for what many would call 'pork projects' a higher priority than funding for essential government responsibilities like keeping prisoners locked up"

...but the few million legislators diverted from a proposed Corrections budget increase to instead fund various festivals in their districts won't really make much of a difference. Alabama taxpayers will spend $366 million for the fiscal year starting Oct. 1 to lock inmates up. That's about $4 million less than Riley wanted to spend. Alabama already spends less per-prisoner than any state in the Union. The prisons hold twice the number of inmates they were built for. Alabama Government has been so cheap with corrections that the Feds have taken control of the entire system before, and it could happen again. The situation is so bad that prison guards have filed briefs in support of inmates who filed suit recently because of the conditions. If Mr. Riley really believes what he says, he should support raising sufficient revenue to replace the state's oldest prisons with larger facilities to handle the crowds. But the last time Mr. Riley took that route, supported raising taxes to pay for prisons and the rest of state government, voters said no and Riley barely escaped with is job. The only other solution is to lock up fewer people. To truly get out in front of sentencing reform and stop locking up people for minor drug offenses. (Instead, every time the Legislature meets they create new felony crimes, adding to the prison population). But neither raising taxes nor arresting fewer people is a very attractive option for someone who wants to win an Alabama popularity contest on election day.