This is an opinion column.
Every week, I get different versions of the same email. Although they come from different people, they share a theme. Sometimes the exact same words.
Nobody cares what you think!
I’m immune to this particular criticism for a couple of reasons. First, those folks cared enough to write, at least, so their argument blows itself up on the launch pad.
And second, I can see the numbers.
I can look into the guts of the AL.com machine and see how many people have read what I’ve written, how many people are reading it this very minute, and what direction that readership is trending into the future. I can see how many people have shared my stuff on social media, which shares are bringing more people to the column and which social platforms are being the kindest to me today.
It’s all there.
It’s a nice balm for the ego, and if I’m not careful, poison for the soul. Because when you can see what readers like, the incentive is there to give them more of it — and less of the things they don’t care for.
And from having watched those numbers, I can tell you this for certain: When I write about prisons, nobody cares what I think.
It hasn’t mattered how hard I’ve tried, how creative I’ve been. Long or short, soft or loud, florid or dry, funny or serious — each prison column lands with a thud.
Every single time.
I would take it personally, but it’s not just me. Other folks’ prison stories fall flat, too. It’s not that people don’t care what I think about prisons. Rather, nobody cares about prisons.
It shouldn’t be a surprise. If a lot of people in Alabama cared about prisons, we wouldn’t have so many insufferable hellholes for prisons. The things speak for themselves.
So why am I writing about prisons again?
First, it’s not entirely true that nobody at all cares.
The feds care about our prisons.
The Justice Department has said that Alabama prisons constitute cruel and unusual punishment. Rape, torture and murder are common within our prison walls, and we’ve been told to put a stop to it.
Gov. Kay Ivey cares.
This week she called a special legislative session to approve a plan to build more prisons in Alabama. Ivey has cared so much that she’d dedicated much of her first full term in office to find a prison construction plan that’s politically palatable.
Prison construction companies care.
Through the various iterations of Alabama prison construction proposals, about the only thing that hasn’t changed is who builds them. These things will be profitable for somebody.
And did I mention these contracts are no-bid contracts? Yeah, Alabama is about to drop $1 billion or more on new prisons and the process has been anything but transparent.
The Legislature cares.
Lawmakers care about prisons so much they seem ready to approve a prison construction plan without actually seeing the plan. Not one of these folks heading to Montgomery this week knows what the state is buying. If you don’t believe me, ask a lawmaker, “What will they look like?” They don’t know.
They care so much that they’ll approve a three-phase construction plan when everyone with any experience in government should know that Phase II and Phase III ain’t ever going to happen. The proposed women’s prison is in Phase II for a reason. When critics ask what about the women’s prison, the answer will be, “Don’t worry, that’s in Phase II.” Don’t be fooled. It’s not a priority.
They care so much, they’ll approve a plan without knowing for sure where the money will come from. The governor’s office has said up to $500 million could come from federal American Rescue Plan funds. However, members of Ivey’s administration have said they aren’t yet certain the U.S. Treasury will approve Alabama using those funds for prisons. Seems important.
At the moment, our state officials care more about prisons than anything else.
Over the summer lawmakers have fussed about a number of different things — critical race theory, Texas-like abortion restrictions, masking in schools, vaccine mandates, etc. But all these momentous issues of supposed importance are taking a back seat this week — for prisons.
So why doesn’t the public’s interest match the public officials’ interest? Next year is an election year, after all. And this is the crux of why you should care.
When public officials put this much attention into something that has so little public attention, we’re in dangerous territory.
Because I’ve seen this sort of thing before — in Jefferson County.
Twenty years ago, when Jefferson County sewers dumped raw sewage into rivers and streams, nobody cared.
When environmentalists sued to stop those raw sewage dumps, nobody cared.
When a federal consent decree committed Jefferson County to build a new sewer system, nobody cared.
When week by week, contract by contract, the costs went up and up, hardly anybody noticed.
Until folks woke up one morning to find a $650 million project had become a $3 billion project.
And then the county went bankrupt — at the time, the largest municipal bankruptcy in American history.
And then contractors, bankers, bureaucrats and county commissioners started going to prison.
When it was too late, everybody cared.
This prison thing smells like Jefferson County sewers.
Nobody cares about prisons, which is why everybody needs to care about prisons.
Because when you aren’t looking — that’s when you get your pocket picked.
Kyle Whitmire is the state political columnist for the Alabama Media Group, 2020 winner of the Walker Stone Award, winner of the 2021 SPJ award for opinion writing, and 2021 winner of the Molly Ivins prize for political commentary.
You can follow his work on his Facebook page, The War on Dumb. And on Twitter. And on Instagram.
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