DOS_patos
Unverified Legion of Trill member
What’s happening
Alabama is building a new supersize prison that will cost over $1 billion – the most expensiveincarceration facility in U.S. history.The Alabama Corrections Institution Finance Authority late last month approved a final price of $1.08 billion for the 4,000-bed prison now under construction in Elmore County.
And Alabama isn’t the only state moving forward with plans for larger, pricier prisons, with proponents of such facilities citing the need to address issues of overcrowding, poor sanitation conditions and a lack of mental health resources in the current facilities.
Nebraska is building a new $350 million, 1,500-bed prison to replace the Nebraska State Penitentiary. Supporters say it will alleviate the overflow of inmates in the state’s prisons, which hold about 50% more people than they were designed for.
“This investment is a key part of our community,” Rob Jeffreys, director of the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services, told CBS affiliate KOLN. “It [provides the] ability to keep people safe.”
In Georgia, officials have been tasked by the Fulton County Board of Commissioners to find the funds for a $1.69 billion facility with 4,500 beds to replace the current Fulton County Jail— known to locals by its address, Rice Street — which many advocates say is beyond repair.
It’s an obligation that we have,” Commissioner Bob Ellis told Atlanta News First.
Why there’s debate
Supporters of the prisons say the new facilities will relieve issues that have long plagued jails, making them more susceptible to homicides, virus outbreaks and abusive conditions that, in the most extreme instances, have prompted theDepartment of Justice to step in.“The new prison facilities being built in Alabama are critically important to public safety, to our criminal justice system and to Alabama as a whole,” Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey said in a statement.
However, prison reform advocates say building newer prisons without addressing the underlying causes of the problems that plagued the old facilities will only put a temporary Band-Aid on an issue that needs a long-term solution.
The rest at:
Billion-dollar supersize prisons are slated to be built across the U.S. But do they help or hurt public safety?
At least three states are moving forward with plans for larger, pricier prisons, with proponents of such facilities citing the need to address issues of overcrowding, poor sanitation conditions and a lack of mental health resources in the current facilities.
