Trump's plan to reopen Alcatraz is as repellent as it is impractical

President Donald Trump’s proposal to reopen and expand the notorious Alcatraz prison for incarcerating “America’s most ruthless and violent offenders” has all the hallmarks of his cruel and reactionary political style. It would be inefficient and impractical, and its primary purpose would be to build a horrifying spectacle out of degrading people whom he deems worthless.

Alcatraz, a 22-acre island in San Francisco Bay, was the site of a 19th century military fortress and then a federal penitentiary from 1934 to 1963. As NBC News reports, “According to a National Park Service study, it was initially deemed unfit to serve as a federal institution because of its small size, isolated location and lack of fresh water. However, Sanford Bates, the director of the Bureau of Prisons in 1933, later found it ‘an ideal place of confinement for about 200 of the most desperate or irredeemable types.’ It was formally opened as a federal penitentiary...