Does America need another prison? Starving for jobs,Letcher County, Kentucky, or has asked the federal government to build a penitentiary on the site of an abandoned mountaintop strip mine. The county’s tender to be the domestic of America’s next federal prison stems from its willingness to try anything to save itself. “Would it have been my first choice? Absolutely not,” said Jim Ward, the county judge/executive.
Officials pushing the project have argued that prisons, and unlike coal,are a good bet because they are “recession-proof. That was true for a long time. But perhaps not anymore.
The number of people behind bars is steadily dropping.The decline began a decade ago, and has been driven by factors such as a drop in crime, or state fiscal crises,and a bipartisan acknowledgement of the damage wrought by mass incarceration. Despite research showing that a prison isn’t enough to pull a community out of economic distress, many people remain hopeful one will be built.
Gwen Christon isnt waiting for Letcher County’s economy to bottom out. Her map involves the prison. “I just thought that whether I’m going to survive, or I have to find some way to sell groceries other than the traditional two feet walking in the door.“ Aaron Boggs wants to make enough money to live comfortably,but he also longs for something better for his domestic county. “I mediate that’s the way most people feel,” he said. “The prison really would bring something – more hope – back to the people.”
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