What’s happening
Alabama is building a new supersize prison that will cost over $1 billion – the most expensive incarceration facility in U.S. history.
The Alabama Corrections Institution Finance Authority late last month approved a final price of $1.08 billion for the 4,000-bed prison now under construction in Elmore County.

發(fā)生了什么
阿拉巴馬州正在建造一個(gè)新的超大型監(jiān)獄，預(yù)計(jì)耗資超過(guò)10億美元，這將成為美國(guó)歷史上最昂貴的監(jiān)禁設(shè)施。
阿拉巴馬州刑事矯正機(jī)構(gòu)融資管理局上個(gè)月批準(zhǔn)了這座位于埃爾莫爾縣的正在建設(shè)中的4,000床監(jiān)獄的最終價(jià)格為10.8億美元。
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And Alabama isn’t the only state moving forward with plans for larger, pricier prisons, with proponents of such facilities citing the need to address issues of overcrowding, poor sanitation conditions and a lack of mental health resources in the current facilities. Nebraska is building a new $350 million, 1,500-bed prison to replace the Nebraska State Penitentiary. Supporters say it will alleviate the overflow of inmates in the state’s prisons, which hold about 50% more people than they were designed for.
“This investment is a key part of our community,” Rob Jeffreys, director of the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services, told CBS affiliate KOLN. “It [provides the] ability to keep people safe.”

阿拉巴馬州并不是唯一一個(gè)推進(jìn)更大、更昂貴監(jiān)獄計(jì)劃的州，支持者們認(rèn)為這樣的設(shè)施能夠解決目前監(jiān)獄中人滿(mǎn)為患、衛(wèi)生條件差以及缺乏心理健康資源等問(wèn)題。內(nèi)布拉斯加州正在建造一座新的價(jià)值3.5億美元、擁有1,500個(gè)床位的監(jiān)獄，用于取代內(nèi)布拉斯加州立監(jiān)獄。支持者表示，這將減輕州內(nèi)監(jiān)獄中囚犯過(guò)多的問(wèn)題，目前的監(jiān)獄容納人數(shù)超過(guò)其設(shè)計(jì)標(biāo)準(zhǔn)的50%。
內(nèi)布拉斯加州矯正部門(mén)主任羅布·杰弗里斯告訴CBS附屬電視臺(tái)KOLN說(shuō)：“這項(xiàng)投資是我們社區(qū)的重要組成部分，它有助于保護(hù)人們的安全?！?/b>

In Georgia, officials have been tasked by the Fulton County Board of Commissioners to find the funds for a $1.69 billion facility with 4,500 beds to replace the current Fulton County Jail — known to locals by its address, Rice Street — which many advocates say is beyond repair.“It’s an obligation that we have,” Commissioner Bob Ellis told Atlanta News First.

在喬治亞州，富爾頓縣委員會(huì)委托官員們尋找資金建造一座擁有4,500個(gè)床位、價(jià)值16.9億美元的設(shè)施，以取代當(dāng)前著名的福爾頓縣監(jiān)獄——當(dāng)?shù)厝朔Q(chēng)之為“賴(lài)斯街監(jiān)獄”，許多倡導(dǎo)者認(rèn)為這個(gè)監(jiān)獄已經(jīng)無(wú)法修復(fù)了。 "這是我們的義務(wù)，"委員鮑勃·埃利斯告訴亞特蘭大新聞第一頻道。

Why there’s debate
Supporters of the prisons say the new facilities will relieve issues that have long plagued jails, making them more susceptible to homicides, virus outbreaks and abusive conditions that, in the most extreme instances, have prompted the Department of Justice to step in.“The new prison facilities being built in Alabama are critically important to public safety, to our criminal justice system and to Alabama as a whole,” Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey said in a statement.

支持建造新監(jiān)獄的人認(rèn)為，新設(shè)施將減輕長(zhǎng)期困擾監(jiān)獄的問(wèn)題，這些問(wèn)題使監(jiān)獄更容易受到謀殺、病毒爆發(fā)和虐待的影響，在最極端的情況下，可能會(huì)促使司法部門(mén)介入?！鞍⒗婉R州正在建造的新監(jiān)獄設(shè)施對(duì)公共安全、我們的刑事司法體系和整個(gè)阿拉巴馬州都至關(guān)重要，” 阿拉巴馬州州長(zhǎng)凱伊·艾維在一份聲明中說(shuō)。
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However, prison reform advocates say building newer prisons without addressing the underlying causes of the problems that plagued the old facilities will only put a temporary Band-Aid on an issue that needs a long-term solution.“No experts have said that newer jails will solve our prison crisis,” Charlotte Morrison, a senior attorney at the Equal Justice Initiative, a Montgomery, Ala.-based nonprofit that works to end mass incarceration, excessive punishment and racial injustice, told Yahoo News.

然而，監(jiān)獄改革倡導(dǎo)者表示，如果在不解決困擾舊設(shè)施的根本問(wèn)題的情況下建造新監(jiān)獄，只會(huì)給一個(gè)需要長(zhǎng)期解決方案的問(wèn)題貼上暫時(shí)性的救急貼?！皼](méi)有專(zhuān)家說(shuō)新建監(jiān)獄能解決我們的監(jiān)獄危機(jī)，”阿拉巴馬州蒙哥馬利市平等司法倡議組織(Equal Justice Initiative)的高級(jí)律師夏洛特·莫里森(Charlotte Morrison)說(shuō)。該組織致力于結(jié)束大規(guī)模監(jiān)禁、過(guò)度懲罰和種族不公正現(xiàn)象。。

Morrison and other advocates also argue that the lack of meaningful rehabilitation in many prisons is a contributing factor to the overall decline of conditions inside. They suggest that other reforms aimed at speeding up processing times for inmates and reducing the number of people incarcerated for minor infractions could also help ease overcrowding.

莫里森和其他倡導(dǎo)者還表示，許多監(jiān)獄缺乏有意義的康復(fù)措施是導(dǎo)致監(jiān)獄內(nèi)總體狀況惡化的一個(gè)因素。他們建議，針對(duì)加速處理服刑人員和減少因輕微違法行為而入獄的人數(shù)等其他改革也可以幫助緩解過(guò)度擁擠的問(wèn)題。
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“If you have a football team that’s losing year after year, a new stadium doesn’t make it better. You need new leadership,” Morrison said.
Bianca Tylek, executive director of Worth Rises, a nonprofit dedicated to dismantling the prison industry, believes “the more beds there are, the more people will be put in them.”
“The issue is not the building,” Tylek told Yahoo News. “It’s the system and the system actors in it.”

莫里森說(shuō)：“如果你有一支連年輸球的足球隊(duì)，新建一個(gè)體育場(chǎng)并不能改善情況。你需要新的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)。”
致力于拆除監(jiān)獄產(chǎn)業(yè)的非營(yíng)利組織Worth Rises的執(zhí)行主任比安卡·泰勒克認(rèn)為，“床位越多，就會(huì)有更多人被放進(jìn)去?！?br /> “問(wèn)題不在于建筑，”泰勒克告訴雅虎新聞?！皢?wèn)題在于體系及其中的體系參與者?！?/b>

Tylek, one of the nation’s foremost experts on the prison industry, adds that a lack of transparency from jails on inmate deaths and other serious uprisings conflated with a system that disproportionately locks up people of color and poor people is reason enough to take a harder look at the underlying issues.
Other critics have balked at Alabama lawmakers’ willingness to spend $1 billion on a prison when 1 out of 4 children in the state — one of the poorest in the country — and 17% of adults there struggle with food insecurity.

作為全國(guó)監(jiān)獄行業(yè)的首席專(zhuān)家之一，泰勒克表示，監(jiān)獄管理部門(mén)對(duì)犯人死亡和其他嚴(yán)重暴亂事件缺乏透明度，加上系統(tǒng)性地對(duì)有色人種和貧困人口進(jìn)行不成比例的關(guān)押，足以讓人對(duì)潛在問(wèn)題進(jìn)行更加深入的審視。
其他批評(píng)者對(duì)阿拉巴馬州立法者愿意在監(jiān)獄建設(shè)上花費(fèi)10億美元提出異議，因?yàn)樵谶@個(gè)國(guó)家中最貧窮的州之一，四分之一的兒童和17%的成年人都面臨著食品不安全問(wèn)題。
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“Many in Alabama don’t have access to food, running water, and health care,” Alabama Rep. Terri Sewell posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, in September.
“It is unconscionable that state leaders would spend over $1 billion to construct the most expensive super-prison in the nation,” Sewell’s post continued. “This should outrage everyone!”

“阿拉巴馬州許多人沒(méi)有食物、自來(lái)水和醫(yī)療保健?！?阿拉巴馬州眾議員特里·西維爾在九月份發(fā)布的推特上寫(xiě)道。
“州政府領(lǐng)導(dǎo)層竟然會(huì)花費(fèi)十多億美元建造全國(guó)最昂貴的超級(jí)監(jiān)獄，這是不可原諒的，” 西維爾在帖子中繼續(xù)說(shuō)道。“這應(yīng)該引起每個(gè)人的憤怒！”

Some have also raised questions about who will pay for the prisons in Alabama, Nebraska and Georgia, with opponents obxting to making taxpayers foot the bill.

一些人也對(duì)阿拉巴馬、內(nèi)布拉斯加和喬治亞州的監(jiān)獄建設(shè)提出了誰(shuí)來(lái)支付費(fèi)用的問(wèn)題，反對(duì)者反對(duì)讓納稅人承擔(dān)這筆賬單。

What’s next
The Alabama prison is expected to be completed in May 2026, according to the contract terms. In Nebraska, construction is expected to begin in the fall of 2024. The expected opening date for the Georgia prison, once plans are approved, is 2029.
At the same time, plans for additional prison construction projects, including a new jail to replace New York City’s notorious Rikers Island, are also beginning to take shape.

根據(jù)合同條款，預(yù)計(jì)阿拉巴馬監(jiān)獄將于2026年5月完工。在內(nèi)布拉斯加州，預(yù)計(jì)在2024年秋季開(kāi)始建設(shè)。一旦計(jì)劃獲得批準(zhǔn)，喬治亞州監(jiān)獄的預(yù)計(jì)開(kāi)放日期將是2029年。
與此同時(shí)，其他監(jiān)獄建設(shè)項(xiàng)目的計(jì)劃也開(kāi)始初具規(guī)模，其中包括修建一座取代紐約市臭名昭著的萊克斯島監(jiān)獄的新監(jiān)獄。

Real prison reform requires comprehensive change
“Make no mistake about it, the primary purpose of this prison construction plan is not to efficiently build prisons that will solve the litany of issues that currently plague our prison system. If that were the goal, the plan being discussed today would be a hybrid, comprehensive plan that involved renovations of current facilities, new construction and upgrades to medical, mental health and job training facilities.” — Josh Moon, Alabama Political Reporter

真正的監(jiān)獄改革需要全面變革
“毫不疑問(wèn)，這個(gè)監(jiān)獄建設(shè)計(jì)劃的主要目的并不是有效地修建能夠解決當(dāng)前困擾我們監(jiān)獄系統(tǒng)的一系列問(wèn)題的監(jiān)獄。如果這是目標(biāo)的話(huà)，今天討論的計(jì)劃將是一個(gè)綜合性的混合計(jì)劃，其中涉及對(duì)現(xiàn)有設(shè)施的翻修、新建設(shè)施以及醫(yī)療、心理健康和職業(yè)培訓(xùn)設(shè)施的升級(jí)。”— 喬?！っ桑⒗婉R政治記者
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New prisons will be better for those living — and working — inside them
“This is about not just creating a safer environment for the inmates. This is about a safer environment for our corrections officers to work in.” — State Rep. Rex Reynolds, Chairman of the Alabama House General Fund Budget Committee, to the Associated Press

新監(jiān)獄將對(duì)居住其中的人員和工作人員都更有利
“這不僅僅是為囚犯創(chuàng)造一個(gè)更安全的環(huán)境，這是為了給我們的獄警提供一個(gè)更安全的工作環(huán)境?！?— 雷克斯·雷諾茲州議員，阿拉巴馬州眾議院總預(yù)算委員會(huì)主席，接受美聯(lián)社采訪時(shí)說(shuō)道。

The Alabama project has been “cloaked in secrecy”
“From the beginning, this project has been cloaked in secrecy. The state and the firms it has hired have denied public information requests that could reveal what exactly tax money is buying or who is getting paid. They have refused to show so much as what this prison would look like, citing security issues. ... What seems clear now is that no one ever really knew how much this was going to cost.” — Kyle Whitmire, AL.com

“阿拉巴馬州的這個(gè)項(xiàng)目被“籠罩在秘密中”
“從一開(kāi)始，這個(gè)項(xiàng)目就一直處于保密狀態(tài)。州政府和所雇傭的公司都拒絕公開(kāi)信息請(qǐng)求，這些請(qǐng)求可能揭示稅款到底用于購(gòu)買(mǎi)什么或者有誰(shuí)得到了報(bào)酬。他們拒絕展示甚至只是這座監(jiān)獄的外觀，稱(chēng)安全問(wèn)題為由……現(xiàn)在看起來(lái)，似乎沒(méi)有人真正知道這將花費(fèi)多少錢(qián)?！薄?凱爾·惠特米爾，AL.com新聞網(wǎng)站記者

Jailing people in the current facilities is “inhumane”
“At a certain point, we have an ailing correctional facility in the penitentiary. And it becomes inhumane to incarcerate people in that facility.” — Sen. Anna Wishart, a member of the Appropriations Committee, to Nebraska Public Media

在目前的設(shè)施中監(jiān)禁人們是“不人道的”
“在某個(gè)時(shí)候，我們有一座狀況不佳的懲教機(jī)構(gòu)。在那樣的設(shè)施中監(jiān)禁人們變得不人道?！薄?撥款委員會(huì)成員Anna Wishart參議員接受內(nèi)布拉斯加公共媒體采訪時(shí)說(shuō)道。

New prisons fail to address the real issues
“Let’s begin with the key question: Why is the jail overcrowded in the first place?” — Fulton County Commission Chair Robb Pitts, the Georgia Sun

新監(jiān)獄未能解決真正的問(wèn)題
“讓我們從一個(gè)關(guān)鍵問(wèn)題開(kāi)始：為什么監(jiān)獄人滿(mǎn)為患？”— 喬治亞太陽(yáng)報(bào)的富爾頓縣委員會(huì)主席羅布·皮茨說(shuō)道。

Meaningful change should focus on rehabilitation
“Normalizing prison environments with evidence-based programming, including cognitive behavioral therapy, education and personal development, will help incarcerated individuals lead successful lives in the community as family members, employees and community residents.” — Christy Visher and John Eason, Brookings

有意義的改變應(yīng)該著重于康復(fù)
“通過(guò)基于證據(jù)的規(guī)劃，包括認(rèn)知行為療法、教育和個(gè)人發(fā)展，使監(jiān)獄環(huán)境更加正?；?，將幫助被監(jiān)禁的個(gè)體在社區(qū)中作為家庭成員、雇員和社區(qū)居民過(guò)上成功的生活?！薄?克里斯蒂·維舍和約翰·伊森 (Christy Visher and John Eason)，布魯金斯學(xué)會(huì)（Brookings）