Alabama Democratic Party

Even with our challenges, there are many brave and dedicated law enforcement personnel, correctional and probation/parole officers doing mighty things with limited resources in corrections. Conditions for inmates and correctional officers in places like Julia Tutwiler Prison, a women’s facility completed in 1942 and bursting at the seams, is inhumane and dangerous.

There are some real tangible ways to reduce inmate populations, protect the safety of the public and honor the punishment needed for crime. Without drastic measures however, Alabama’s general fund will collapse under the weight of new correctional funding needs.

Roughly half of today’s inmate population is considered violent offenders. Drug and DUI offenses now account for 38 percent of new admissions. However, over 85 percent of all crime committed in some way involves drugs or alcohol.

Alabama’s new Chief Justice, Democrat Sue Bell Cobb has tackled this problem and begun the creation of stand-alone drug courts in all of Alabama’s 67 counties to intensely deal with drug violators. By using a specific drug court and judge to monitor court pleadings, do weekly drug screenings, address family concerns and foster employment for the inmate the state is changing the correctional paradigm.

Boot camps and alternative sentencing programming in lieu of long-term incarceration has proven successful in many cases. However, youthful offenders also need mentoring, role models and the help of faith based and volunteer community interaction in order to avoid lifetime of incarceration.

It costs $13,417 per year to house an inmate in Alabama, yet we spend only $7,500 per year to educate a public school student. Drop out rates of high school students make young people highly susceptible to entanglement in the correctional system. By front-loading educational dollars to do more in-school intercession for at-risk students, Alabama can save itself millions in the future and reduce inmate populations.

Alternative schools and in-school suspension are investments made by Democrats in the Alabama Legislature that are paying dividends and catching difficult student problems in school before they can spill into crime. Two-thirds of Alabama prison inmates are under the age of 39.

Community based corrections for non-violent offenders that allow for work release, frequent drug testing and mandatory employment has proven successful and enjoys bi-partisan support.

Continued investment in technical parole violator centers and transitional work centers for transitioning inmates can stem the general prison populations.

Adult education and adult literacy efforts should be fully funded and integrated within the prison population by various state agencies. GED degrees and vocational certifications should be predicated as a condition of parole. Recidivism rates of inmates that learn to read, write, and earn GEDs drops dramatically.

Crime and corrections affects us all and we all must become personally involved. Only through our churches, civic clubs, schools will we tangibly touch the life of a troubled kid or family and find the long-lasting solution to this problem. It will be more than money that we save.

Joe Turnham is the Chairman of Alabama’s Democratic Party.