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| Sen. Cam Ward says of state prisons: 'We're dealing with a box of dynamite |
| By blog.al.com - Mike Cason |
| Published: 01/09/2014 |
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The chairman of the Alabama Legislature’s prison oversight committee said he expects nonviolent protests at several Alabama prisons to blow over but says they are another sign the state needs to address the persistent problems of overcrowding and understaffing. Sen. Cam Ward, R-Alabaster, said nobody wants plush accommodations for prisoners but said the current conditions make the prisons ripe for violence and federal takeover. “We’re dealing with a box of dynamite in our prison system,” Ward said. Ward said he thought the Department of Corrections was doing the best it could with limited resources. He said he would propose a joint resolution during the legislative session to ask The Council of State Governments to come in a study Alabama’s prisons and criminal justice system and propose ways to improve it. He said the CSG did that in Texas and the state adopted many of its recommendations with positive results. He said there would be no cost to the state for a CSG study. Alabama has already worked at reforms, including the establishment of the Alabama Sentencing Commission in the late 1990s. The commission compiles data and has advised the Legislature on changes in sentencing laws to allocate more of the scarce prison space for violent offenders. Read More. |
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