Email Insight: Jim Zeigler and coalition of activists oppose mega prisons, call on legislature to audit Department of Corrections

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Jim Zeigler has been outspoken on his belief that Governor Kay Ivey’s plan to build 3 mega prisons is a costly mistake that Alabama shouldn’t make. In a recent op-ed, Zeigler stated, “Governor Kay Ivey is just days away from signing contracts that will saddle taxpayers with a minimum $2.6 billion bill for leasing three new mega-prisons for 30 years.  In the end, we will own equity in the prisons of exactly ZERO.  The companies that held these lucrative leases will own the prisons, and we, the taxpayers, will have to start completely over and pay for the prisons a second time – pay 100% again.” 

Ivey’s plan would create three mega prisons, each housing around 10,000 inmates and would force the closure of several existing prisons. Representatives Rich Wingo, Arnold Mooney, and Steve Clouse have all expressed concerns. Clouse, who chairs the budget committee, said, “there are a lot of questions that the Legislature would like answered.”

Zeigler has called for an independent audit of the Alabama Department of Corrections. Now 13 citizen groups support his audit request. Here is the letter they are sending to Kay Ivey and the Alabama legislature. 

Alabama is Getting Swindled For Billions

1/29/21

To the Alabama State Legislators:

We are a coalition of people, communities, and organizations committed to stopping the ill-conceived construction of prisons being forced upon Bibb, Elmore, and Escambia counties. We are made up of communities of farmers and activists in each of those counties, more than a dozen organizations and churches across the state, and nearly 300 Alabama students from 28 colleges, universities, and law schools,  writing to you in opposition to Governor Kay Ivey’s attempt to spend $2.6 billion on three new mega-prisons without a shred of transparency. We are Communities Not Prisons, and our futures depend on your immediate action.

It is no secret that barring significant action, our prisons will remain unconstitutional—ensuring a federal takeover by the Department of Justice. It is equally clear that our prisons are in need of long-overdue maintenance. But Governor Ivey and Commissioner Dunn have elected to pursue a multi-facility mega-prison construction project that will address only a small aspect of the overall criticisms from the Department of Corrections. Throughout the entire process, they have acted behind closed doors, keeping the public and even you—our elected leaders—entirely in the dark.

The DOJ report on Alabama prisons details 5 pages of actions Alabama could take to become compliant with the 8th Amendment prohibition on “cruel and unusual punishment.” Not a single recommendation mentions new construction. Though part of the DOJ lawsuit does highlight infrastructural deficiencies, these primarily could be addressed by installing more cameras and repairing broken locks. If a cost estimate for implementing these minimum infrastructural repairs has been done, the people of Alabama deserve to know about it. The quality of our current facilities, however abysmal, is a minor concern in comparison to the core reasons our prisons are unconstitutional—violence stemming from a dysfunctional Department of Corrections, chronic understaffing, and poor leadership.

Our prisons are unconstitutional not because they are in need of repair, but because the ADOC is the most dysfunctional department of corrections in America. The DOJ has targeted our prisons because they are racist and violent. Are we supposed to believe that the same department that got us into this mess will run functioning prisons just because they get new buildings?  

Even if building modern facilities addresses some concerns, it is unlikely to take us out of the DOJ’s crosshairs. The best use of taxpayer dollars cannot be to pursue the action most expensive and least likely to avoid federal intervention—paying $2.6 billion to rent 3 prisons. Why have there been no known attempts to determine the cost of pursuing the DOJ’s actual recommendations?

With growing needs for investments in healthcare, including mental health, and the additional burden that COVID-19 has placed on critical departments, as we heard outlined in this week’s budget hearings from the leadership of the Department of Public Health, Department of Mental Health, and the Alabama Medicaid Agency, it is astounding that Governor Ivey is prioritizing fiscally irresponsible and devastating contracts for prisons that do not address our most urgent needs as Alabamians.

While we understand the need for action and the difficulty of legislating around prison issues, we do not accept the degree of secrecy under which this plan has developed. Governor Ivey has attempted to act unilaterally and has refused to answer the legitimate questions of her constituents. The people of Alabama have had no say in this. Residents in Tallassee and Brierfield, where two of the prisons will be built, have been opposing this plan for months. Governor Ivey has made it clear that our farmers and rural communities do not matter to her. This is not how Alabama works. This is not how America works. This is tyranny, not democracy. It is past time for our legislators to intervene.

We demand more information through an independent and transparent assessment of the Alabama Department of Corrections before Alabama is strapped into this expensive, irreversible plan. Without an audit, we risk torching a significant portion of our already strapped discretionary spending. Furthermore, due diligence has not been exercised to determine the environmental impact of these proposed prisons. Basic questions about wastewater treatment, water sourcing, storm runoff, additional infrastructure, and more have not been answered, even when local residents have asked about them. This is unacceptable and irresponsible.

We demand the legislature do everything in their power to intervene in this process and stop Governor Ivey from trapping us into a 30-year mistake.

We demand Governor Ivey immediately stop her assault on farmers and the rural communities whose homes and livelihoods will be destroyed if these contracts are signed and these prisons are built.

We are calling on you, our leaders, to intervene.

Alabama cannot move forward with this plan. We implore you: do everything in your power to delay these contracts from being signed. You are the last line of defense against this anti-democratic process and appalling executive overreach.

Sincerely yours,

 

Block the Brierfield Prison

No Prison for Tallassee

Alabama Students Against Prisons

The Ordinary Peoples Society

Prodigal Child Project

Alabama Justice Initiative

Auburn Students and Community for Change

Emerge at Auburn University

Fight Toxic Prisons

ACLU of Alabama

Black Lives Matter Alabama

Faith and Works Collective

Alabama Appleseed Center for Law and Justice