Alabama governor signs bill that uses COVID relief funds to build prisons

• The administration has encouraged states to use the funds to offset revenue losses to protect vital public services and to address a summer rise in violent crime, according to CNN.

Alabama will use $400 million of its American Rescue Plan funds to help pay for a $1.3 billion effort to build and renovate prisons across the state.

• State Republicans have said the plan is crucial to reverse years of inattention and degradation and improve conditions for inmates.
• The plan includes the construction of two 4,000-bed men’s prisons that will replace others that are outdated and beyond repair.

What they're saying: Ivey called the bills a "pivotal moment for the trajectory of our state's criminal justice system," according to CNN.

The big picture: The Department of Justice sued the state in December 2020 for failing to protect its prisoners from violence and sexual abuse at the hands of other inmates and staff members.

• Ivey also signed legislation that requires all inmates to finish their sentences under supervised releases to help reduce overcrowding in the state's prison system.

Go deeper: Justice Department investigating conditions in Georgia state prisons