Do the crime, pay for the time, as in $90 a day

[jimmy olsen]

What a waste of time, this is obviously not going to work.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32303397/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/

Do the crime, pay for the time, as in $90 a day
States consider making inmates pay their debt to society in cold, hard cash

updated 4:28 p.m. ET, Wed., Aug 5, 2009

NEW YORK - A one-night stay? Ninety dollars. Need to see a doctor? Ten bucks. Want toilet paper? Pay for it yourself.

In the ever-widening search for extra income during desperate economic times, states across America are embracing a new idea: making inmates pay their debt to society not only in hard time, but also in cold, hard cash.

In New York, Republican Assemblyman James Tedisco introduced a bill that would charge wealthy criminals $90 a day for room and board at state prisons.

Dubbed the "Madoff Bill," after billion-dollar Ponzi schemer Bernard Madoff, the legislation is designed to ease the $1 billion annual cost of incarcerating prisoners.

"This concept says if you can afford it, or even some of it, you're going to help the beleaguered taxpayers who play by the rules," Tedisco said.

Several other states and some cities have gone to great lengths to squeeze money from inmates.

Charging inmates for meals
In Arizona's Maricopa County, which includes Phoenix, Sheriff Joe Arpaio calls himself America's toughest sheriff and makes prisoners sleep outdoors in 100-degree-plus heat.

Earlier this year, he announced that inmates would be charged $1.25 per day for meals. His decision followed months of food strikes staged by convicts who complained of being fed green bologna and moldy bread.

In Iowa's Des Moines County, where officials faced a $1.7 million budget hole this year, politicians considered charging prisoners for toilet paper — at a savings of $2,300 per year. The idea was ultimately dropped, after much derision.

A New Jersey legislator introduced a bill similar to New York's, this one based on fees charged by the Camden County Correctional Facility, which bills prisoners $5 a day for room and board and $10 per day for infirmary stays — totaling an estimated $300,000 per year.

In Virginia, Richmond's overcrowded city jail has begun charging $1 per day, hoping to earn as much as $200,000 a year. In Missouri's Taney County, home to Branson, the sheriff says charging inmates $45 per day will help pay for his new $27 million jail.

Prisons and jails took some of the biggest cuts this summer when legislators cut their state budgets, trying to slash their way out of an economic morass exacerbated by dwindling tax revenues. But to civil rights advocates — and some law enforcement officials — trying to raise money by charging inmates makes no sense.

"The overwhelming number of people who end up in prison are poor," said Elizabeth Alexander, director of the American Civil Liberties Union's National Prison Project. "The number of times in which these measures actually result in a lot of money coming in is very small."

Alexander also says such efforts only amount to political window dressing. "They allow someone to look tough on crime instead of being effective," she said.

Tapping prisoner accounts for fees
Collecting the fees covers a wide spectrum. In Richmond, they are deducted from a prisoner's personal account — which contains whatever money relatives send and any cash the suspect had when arrested. In Arizona, sheriff Arpaio, who makes inmates wear pink underwear to increase the humiliation factor, also taps prisoner accounts. Inmates who have no money still receive food, the sheriff says.

Other authorities slap the prisoner with a bill upon release from prison. But it's often hard to collect. In Kansas, Overland Park officials acknowledged collecting only 39 percent of fees. In Missouri's Jackson County, officials discovered they spent more money trying to collect fees than they actually received from inmates.

In some cases, it's prisoners' families who shoulder the financial burden.

"It's the spouses, children and parents who pay the fees. They are the people who contribute to prisoners' canteen accounts," said Sarah Geraghty of the Southern Center for Human Rights, which successfully opposed an effort earlier this year in Georgia to bill prisoners $40 per day.

The money was to be collected by seizing cash in their jail accounts or by filing lawsuits. The proposal also would have denied parole to those who could not make payments after being freed.

"It makes no sense to release people with $25, a bus ticket and $40,000 in reimbursement fees," she said. "Saddling people with thousands of dollars in debt is contradictory to helping someone become a functioning member of society."

Inmate population has skyrocketed
In recent years, as get-tough sentencing and drug penalties increased, America's prison population skyrocketed. Chain gangs returned to states including Arizona and Alabama. Premium cable was eliminated in federal prisons. New York ended an inmate program that paid tuition for college-degree programs.

But trying to make prisoners pay to serve time is a wasted effort, civil rights advocates say. "This is a dry well," Alexander said. "They're not going to solve this (economic) problem by going down it."

Asked if she had heard about Des Moines County's proposal to charge inmates for toilet paper, Alexander laughed.

"I did not," she replied. "That's a good metaphor for the whole effort."

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.

[Monoriu]

Why don't they force inmates to do productive work to pay for their living?  Turn prisons into sweatshops that outcompete Chinese workers?

[sbr]

Why don't they force inmates to do productive work to pay for their living?  Turn prisons into sweatshops that outcompete Chinese workers?

They do here in Oregon, now all of the small business owners are pissed off because they can't compete with the slave prison labor.

[Jacob]

That's how they used to run prisons back in the 18th and 19th centuries, wasn't it?

[Monoriu]

Well, I imagine that most prisoners don't have much money anyway.  The wealthy ones probably have ways to transfer their money to some relative.  If you want to reach the policy goal of letting prisons pay for themselves, forcing inmates to work is a more effective solution.

[sbr]

Well, I imagine that most prisoners don't have much money anyway.  The wealthy ones probably have ways to transfer their money to some relative.  If you want to reach the policy goal of letting prisons pay for themselves, forcing inmates to work is a more effective solution.

This is just popping into my head as I type it so I am not sure how I feel about it myself, but what about letting the wealthy "buy" extra luxuries or privileges?

OK by the time i finished typing it I realized it was a bad idea but what the hell.

[Monoriu]

Well, I imagine that most prisoners don't have much money anyway.  The wealthy ones probably have ways to transfer their money to some relative.  If you want to reach the policy goal of letting prisons pay for themselves, forcing inmates to work is a more effective solution.

This is just popping into my head as I type it so I am not sure how I feel about it myself, but what about letting the wealthy "buy" extra luxuries or privileges?

OK by the time i finished typing it I realized it was a bad idea but what the hell.

I think the whole idea of a prison is to deny luxuries and freedom to people who broke the law. 

[Zanza]

Why don't they force inmates to do productive work to pay for their living?  Turn prisons into sweatshops that outcompete Chinese workers?

So the motto of your prison system would be "Arbeit macht frei"?

[Crazy_Ivan80]

That's how they used to run prisons back in the 18th and 19th centuries, wasn't it?

that's how they run prisons in the magreb and arabia, and quite some other places too

[Eddie Teach]

The self-righteous bloodlust of law-abiding American citizens(especially the dumber ones) is truly a sight to behold.

[Martinus]

Mono, forced labour is considered a human rights violation in the civilized world. Not that you care, being a fucking savage Chinaman.

Seriously, you seem to be the only Asian we have here, and you seem to confirm every horrible racist stereotype of Asians. What gives?

[Monoriu]

Mono, forced labour is considered a human rights violation in the civilized world. Not that you care, being a fucking savage Chinaman.

Seriously, you seem to be the only Asian we have here, and you seem to confirm every horrible racist stereotype of Asians. What gives?

I think it is quite normal for prisoners to engage in (forced) work of some kind.  Whether it is a human rights violation all depends on the way it is implemented. 

[Monoriu]

From the Federal Bureau of Prisons website -

Sentenced inmates are required to work if they are medically able. Institution work assignments include employment in areas like food service or the warehouse, or work as an inmate orderly, plumber, painter, or groundskeeper. Inmates earn 12¢ to 40¢ per hour for these work assignments.

Approximately 18% of work-eligible inmates work in Federal Prison Industries (FPI) factories. They gain marketable job skills while working in factory operations, such as metals, furniture, electronics, textiles, and graphic arts. FPI work assignments pay from 23¢ to $1.15 per hour. A high school diploma or General Educational Development (GED) certificate is required for all work assignments above entry level (lowest pay level) in either institution or FPI jobs.

The Inmate Financial Responsibility Program (IFRP) requires inmates to make payments from their earnings to satisfy court-ordered fines, victim restitution, child support, and other monetary judgments. Some inmates are assessed a Cost of Incarceration Fee, which is collected under the IFRP. Inmates working in FPI who have financial obligations must pay 50 percent of their earnings to the IFRP. Most fine and restitution money goes to crime victims or victim support groups through the Crime Victims Fund administered by the Office for Victims of Crime in the Department of Justice.

http://www.bop.gov/inmate_programs/work_prgms.jsp

This is already being done.

[DisturbedPervert]

I think it is quite normal for prisoners to engage in (forced) work of some kind.  Whether it is a human rights violation all depends on the way it is implemented.

In America they actually PAY the prisoners.   Up to several tens of cents per hour! 

[Alatriste]

Trouble is, when jobs are scarce giving them to inmates... well, it's a delicious irony but it becomes a privilege. And quite unfair to boot because cheap prison workers compete unfairly with free ones.