The headline says more than enough: Alabama may turn to prison inmates to replace lost immigrant farm laborers. Happily, the spokesman for the state's prison system isn't so keen on the proposal. But for folks like Governor Robert Bentley, who are are trying to clean up the state's immigration mess without, well, cleaning up the mess, this must sound like an awfully peachy idea.
This harkens back to times in the early 20th century when prisoners were leased out to businesses fir hard labor with blacks receiving disproportionately longer sentences than whites for similar offenses.
When we have work that few Americans will do even in times of severe unemployment, this would seem to suggest that we reexamine our labor laws at the very least. Examining our heads might also be a good idea. I can just imagine some readers wanting to start with me.