Arizona prison overcrowding reduced. By one.

     The oldest death row inmate in America has died at the age of 93...after spending more than half of that long life, where else, behind bars. He was sentenced to death in Arizona in 1983.
     Here in Alabama, we've approved legislation letting the Department of Corrections jettison old,  terminally ill inmates back to society outside the bars.
     That basically means transferring the cost of caring for them over to some other state or federal agency. We taxpayers end up paying anyway, but the DOC's bottom line is improved. According to a story last month in The NY Times:

In Alabama, where prisons are at double their capacity, four sick inmates were let out on compassionate release in the 2009 fiscal year*; 35 other prisoners in Alabama died while their applications were being reviewed.

     You have to wonder what kind of an application process they have going there with almost nine times as many prisoners dying as being released. Maybe DOC is waiting till too close to the end?
     In the long run I suppose it really doesn't matter, since one way or the other, it's one less mouth to feed, one less inmate to take care of.

[*Note: I'm not sure just what The Times means by "fiscal year 2009". Alabama's fiscal year 2009 doesn't end till next September.]

And Thanks to J.C. for the tip on the story!