Now, however, there is some cause to be at least cautiously optimistic that prison conditions could improve.

Prison Commissioner Donal Campbell reported Wednesday that the Department of Corrections has met an end-of-June deadline to reduce the inmate population at Tutwiler Prison for Women to 750. Earlier this year, the prison had more than 1,000 inmates, and a federal judge ruled that conditions at the prison were so dangerous as to be unconstitutional. The judge ordered the state to fashion a plan to remedy the problems.

That plan included sending some inmates to private prisons out of state. Thanks to an emergency appropriation by the Legislature, 300 female inmates were sent to Louisiana. Also included was money that allowed the Board of Pardons and Paroles to hire 28 parole officers to speed up the number of inmates paroled each month.

There's also relief ahead for men's prisons. Campbell says he will send as many as 1,500 men to private prisons in Louisiana and Mississippi. That's being paid for with an additional $25 million appropriation from the Legislature.

While those certainly are steps in the right direction, they're only baby steps. Prisons are still in crisis.

The emergency money from the Legislature is only for this year. Next year, prison officials say they need an increase in their budget of $126 million. The only hope of that happening is for voters in September to approve Gov. Bob Riley's $1.2 billion tax and accountability package.

If that vote fails, prisons can instead expect a cut of $44 million. Campbell says that would mean closing prisons, laying off hundreds of employees and setting free up to 7,000 prisoners. That would be a catastrophe for the state.

So, while there is some reason to be optimistic that the state is on the road toward fixing prisons, state residents shouldn't lull themselves into any false sense of security. There's still a long way to go. And it could be rocky.

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