alabama prisons: why i care and why you should too
Published by AL.Com and The Birmingham News March 11, 2020
By Beth Shelburne
Last year, I left a 20-year career in TV news so I could write about incarceration full time. If this sounds bewildering to you, you’re not alone. People frequently ask, why do you care so much about people in prison? Why would I not care? Since 2012, I’ve covered Alabama’s prison crisis, steeped in violence, corruption, extortion, abuse, and neglect. I have never spent a day in jail or prison, but I don’t need a personal connection to recognize when something is not right- and what’s happening inside our prisons, on our dime, is shamefully wrong.