Decatur County newspaper wants more prisoners who compete with local wo rkers

The Decatur County newspaper brags about prisoners competing with free labor, while helping try to attract another prison.

Brennan Leathers wrote for the Post-Searchlight 3 January 2010, Walls going up at new ag building,

Work on Decatur County's new agricultural office building is quickly progressing, with interior walls being put up and the installation of a roof soon to follow.

Decatur County Prison inmates with carpentry and construction experience were working hard last Friday, putting up the interior walls inside the 9,724-square-foot building under construction near the Cloud Agricultural Building off Vada Road.

Which means some local workers with carpentry and construction experience were not working on that project.

Do we want a private prison in Lowndes County so more prisoners can compete with local workers here, too? If you don't think so, remember CCA says community opposition can impede private prison site selection. Here's a petition urging the Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority to stop the CCA private prison.

-jsq

Comments

[Chantay Smithingell]

Perhaps they should balance the number between the prisoners and the local workers in order to distribute the labor in a fair manner and ensure that every duty is competed, from the installation of the roofs to the painting. After all, some of the inmates might want to apply for an honest job once they are freed.

[Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange]

That's an interesting thought. The newspaper article didn't say anything about anybody but prisoners working on the project. Given that chances are many of them are in for minor drug offenses, how about just not lock them up in the first place? -jsq