Many municipalities across the United States charge prison inmates for the cost of their own imprisonment, often at rates similar to those charged by hotels. When they get out, most cannot pay because they’re indigent, so they’re rearrested, and rejailed for nonpayment, and charged even more.
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Nothing surprises me when it comes to this sick, evil country.
“this” country … does that mean you live in the US now?
It’d make more sense to make ’em pay by the day. If you can’t pay your slumlord on time you get evicted, same thing should happen in prison – right? Otherwise we’re just subsidizing low-income housing with taxpayer dollars.
Prison is expensive -> so the only people who could afford to live there are the rich. Now all we have to do is arrest a few of them, and we’d solve both prison overcrowding and underfunding in one swell foop.
America has already “been-there-and-done-that” regarding perpetual incarceration … it ostensibly ended with slavery in the late 19th century. But again, by charging prisoners “rent” for their incarceration, a slave-society gets reborn. Meanwhile, if that kind of money is being charged as prison-cell rent (as well as rotten-meal fees), shouldn’t minimum-wage and overtime also apply to the entire jail-term?
DanD
Prisons ARE America’s slave-industrial complex ~
http://www.alternet.org/civil-liberties/americas-slave-empire
DanD
In this connexion, Ted, see even Matt Taibbi’s recent Rolling Stone article Jailed for being broke : http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/jailed-for-being-broke-20150623….
Henri
Cute. Well, at least we abolished debtor’s prison long ago.
«Well, at least we abolished debtor’s prison long ago.» You – or at least, some of you – thought you did. The above would seem to indicate that this is not, in fact, the case….
Henri
Surely you can’t be implying that the Gubbmint Ubba USA would lie to their citizens. That would be unconstitutional and the Supreme Court would put a stop to it right away.
One violates Poe’s law at one’s own risk…. 😉
Henri
😀