Members of the Alabama House will resume work next week on a stalled prison construction bill. The measure would build four facilities, including a replacement for the state's troubled women's prison. The state would also lease new men's prisons built by local communities. The task in the House is to rework a plan drawn up by members of the State Senate. The state agreed to make changes at Tutwiler women’s prison after the Justice Department ruled inmates there faced an unconstitutional environment of sexual abuse and harassment. The prison plan was first proposed by former Governor Robert Bentley. His replacement, Governor Kay Ivey, says she supports construction legislation. The Alabama Public Radio news team won two regional Edward R. Murrow Awards and the Society of Professional Journalists’ national Sigma Delta Chi award for its prison reform coverage. You can hear those stories again at apr.org.
Lawmakers go back to work on prison plan
