While we agree that the situation is urgent, we also believe these decisions are too important to rush - even though action has been delayed for some years and even though the State Penitentiary in Lincoln is outdated and in need of renovation. At a time when most states in the nation are lowering their inmate population, Nebraska’s prisons are dramatically and dangerously overcrowded. Our prison crowding is second in the nation only to Alabama, with 1,800 more inmates than our facilities’ rated capacity. That’s down from 2,100 over capacity in 2019, but the state could face an influx of prisoners as courts catch up with sentencings delayed during the pandemic.