Alabama plans to use Covid relief funds to finance prison-building spree

[Judi Lynn]

Decarceration advocates urge lawmakers to consider sentencing reform instead as prisons have seen high rates of Covid outbreaks

Melody Schreiber
Wed 29 Sep 2021 05.00 EDT

The southern US state of Alabama, which has the highest death rate from Covid-19 in America, is planning to use Covid relief funds to help construct three large prisons and renovate several others.

State lawmakers began a special session on Monday to discuss the $1.3bn construction project, which would use up to $400m from American Rescue Plan funds allocated to the state – nearly 20% of Alabama’s federal pandemic relief money.

Opponents say the funds should address active and ongoing issues from the pandemic, including overwhelmed health systems, outdated school ventilation systems and economic fallout for small businesses.


Alabama plans to use Covid relief funds to finance prison-building spree
Decarceration advocates urge lawmakers to consider sentencing reform instead as prisons have seen high rates of Covid outbreaks

Prisoners stand in a crowded lunch line at Elmore Correctional Facility in Elmore, Alabama, in June 2015.
Prisoners stand in a crowded lunch line at Elmore correctional facility in Elmore, Alabama, in June 2015. Photograph: Brynn Anderson/AP
Melody Schreiber
Wed 29 Sep 2021 05.00 EDT

The southern US state of Alabama, which has the highest death rate from Covid-19 in America, is planning to use Covid relief funds to help construct three large prisons and renovate several others.

State lawmakers began a special session on Monday to discuss the $1.3bn construction project, which would use up to $400m from American Rescue Plan funds allocated to the state – nearly 20% of Alabama’s federal pandemic relief money.

Opponents say the funds should address active and ongoing issues from the pandemic, including overwhelmed health systems, outdated school ventilation systems and economic fallout for small businesses.

The Republican governor, Kay Ivey, said the plan to build new facilities and renovate others could be a solution to safety concerns in correctional facilities, which are notorious in many parts of the US for violence and poor safety records. Indeed, Alabama is facing a lawsuit from the Department of Justice over violence from inmates and staff in its prisons, one of the most understaffed and violent systems in the nation. The lawsuit focuses on staffing, corruption, training and other issues, not infrastructure.

More:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/sep/29/alabama-covid-relief-funds-build-prisons

[appalachiablue]

1. As low as it gets and corrupt, for shame

[Walleye]

2. They will have to build a lot of new jails in the South, to deal with all those illegal abortions

[LunaSea]

3. Ivey's the repub Oprah,

And You get a kickback,
And You get a kickback,
And You get a kickback,
And You get a kickback,

So many dirty mouths to feed down there.