"You think the Legislature's going to comply?" asked Circuit Judge William Shashy.

Good question - and one that certainly merits the skepticism expressed by a lawyer for counties whose jails, after years of litigation, are again overloaded with state inmates.

"With all due respect to the governor's office," James Webb said, "in the 14 years since this has been going, lots of governors all said things will be different in the next legislative session."

Instead, things have remained basically the same, except for conditions in prisons, which have gotten worse. Prisons are at double capacity - and their inmates are backing up yet again in county jails.

Legislators who come into session Tuesday have an opportunity to change that.

The problem in years past has been that it's more politically expedient to pass laws that are "tough on crime" than to admit some nonviolent offenders can be diverted safely to less costly and better alternatives than prison.

A package of reforms that would establish prison alternatives and prudent sentencing guidelines did pass in the House of Representatives last year, but it failed in the dysfunctional Senate.

The Senate needs to waste no time this year enacting the reforms created by the Alabama Sentencing Commission and blessed by Gov. Bob Riley.

But it's disappointing when legislators such as Roger Bedford, a Senate budget committee chairman, seem to dismiss the prison reforms before the session even begins.

Some lawmakers, at least, say they see an urgent need for action.

A legislative committee Thursday called for a joint meeting of the full House and Senate about the prisons' "emergency situation." Members of the Joint Prison Committee said they hope the meeting will happen early in the session.

This will give state Corrections Commissioner Donal Campbell the chance to make the case for his short-term needs - basically, more beds - as well as longer-term strategies for bringing the prison population down to a more manageable size.

"It's a big issue whether it's an election year or not," state Rep. Blaine Galliher, R-Gadsden, told The Associated Press. "I think we're at a critical crossroads, and we need to make some tough decisions."

Galliher is right.

As Shashy noted, it shouldn't take a riot or a federal lawsuit to force our state leaders to address prison crowding. What it should take is a decent package of ideas and a decent group of legislators to make them a reality.

The ideas are there. But, to repeat Shashy's question: Are our legislators?

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