Alabama Prison Commissioner Resigns

MONTGOMERY, Ala. -- State prisons Commissioner Donal Campbell resigned today.
In a statement, Governor Bob Riley accepted Campbell's resignation, which is effective February 28th. "I'm grateful for Commissioner Campbell's commitment and service to the state of Alabama...During his tenure, Donal has maintained a positive outlook in one of the most difficult positions in state government."

Campbell, a former Commissioner of the Tennessee prison system, took the post in January 2003.

He inherited an underfunded corrections system plagued with overcrowding and lawsuits, including a pending case in which Campbell was under the threat of a contempt citation due to overcrowding.

Campbell is quoted in the press release as saying,"The challenges facing Alabama's prison sytem are well known and have built up over decades, but under Governor Riley's leadership, the right steps are being taken to face those challenges and reform the system."

No replacement for the job has been named at this time. Campbell said he is stepping down to pursue other opportunitiees.

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I think Donal Campbel might have been having nightmares about slamming cell doors, as he was under threat of prison himself.

I don't think Donal was the problem. The prison system was broken when he inherited it and the legislature lacks the guts to do anything meaningful to ease the prison overcrowding crisis.