It used to be that the GOVERNMENT paid the cost of running the justice system, just like they paid for roads... But, that was a time when rehabilitation was the intent of the "corrections" system, too. That's why it was called corrections.
Anyway, they discovered that correcting people didn't work very well, so they started punishing them instead. Part and parcel of that punishment is making the convict PAY for services that the state previously paid for...
But, somewhere along the line, paying because it's part of the punishment got mixed up with paying because it's a PROFIT center. That would be a CAPTIVE (in the REAL sense) profit center too. Prisoners have NO choice, and in my view, they are getting RIPPED OFF.
If a convict is going to use the phone, he MUST call collect through the prisons CHOSEN provider of telephone services.... Even a SHORT phone call costs the family of the imprisoned, at least $10. Convicts pay TWICE the price you do for candy and shaving gear... They PAY for their private probation officers... They PAY for the prisons run by private industry...
Oh, yeah. Did I mention the cops who can rip people off and keep the money in drug prosecutions???? They do....
So, if you wonder WHY we are the worlds LARGEST jailer, it might just be because it's a highly PROFITABLE endeavor.
I don't doubt that sometimes convicts are ripped off by the system. After all, a $10 collect call is a little ridiculous unless you're calling China and talking for an hour. As for what they pay for candy and shaving gear and the like, I'll take your word for it. As for the US being the world's largest jailer, I'd like to offer a slightly different perspective. It seems like we often incarcerate people who ought not to be incarcerated. By that, I mean so-called "non-violent" criminals. Like so-called "deadbeat dads" who don't pay child support. Or other types of "deadbeats" who haven't paid outstanding traffic fines. Now I know I'll probably get my head ripped off for suggesting that deadbeat dads ought not to be incarcerated but I believe that jails and prisons should be reserved for the most dangerous criminals ; those who pose a real threat to society. Let's face it ; the unemployed truck driver next door who isn't paying his child support isn't much of a threat to me and my family. As for that matter, neither is the guy across the street who runs an illegal sports betting ring. But the gun-toting bank robber, on the other hand, is a real threat and he's the guy who ought to be locked up. Restitution and community service, in my opinion, make much better sentences for a lot of criminals than incarceration. Convicts on community service can do a lot of things, such as trash cleanup, that would otherwise burden the taxpayers. They can also do things more directly related to their crimes. For example, a deadbeat dad can be sentenced to work at a children's shelter or a welfare office. The operator of a dog-fighting ring can work at an animal shelter. I believe in truly making the punishment fit the crime and the best way to do that is to make the offender "give back", so to speak, what he took away with his crime in the first place.
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America's jails are definitely overcrowded. Just take a look any night of the week on the television and you'll see the rash of jail programs that are on lately. Cheap entertainment. Cheap to produce. Almost like the "Cops" series but take it a step further and really exploit the criminals.
What they don't show in these tv shows or series is the fact that it is sheer boredom and sheer terror all at once and you must add in the extreme anxiety caused by being caged and not allowed your freedom. The mental anguish caused by all the hours in jail just trying to keep your sanity is beyond description. How would you like to pay 50 cents for a 10 cent Ramen Noodle pack? Like Excon said, a $10 phone call is nothing.
The Pay to Stay scam is ridiculous. Some counties in Ohio tried that and they got nowhere except make a few collection companies rich as no one could pay the $30 a day charge! All the county got was the privilege of putting a judgment out against the person for several thousand dollars in hopes that the exinmate would win the lottery and they could collect or the exinmate would own real estate and sell it and the county could swoop in and collect their judgment. Ohio got smart and stopped that baloney. There are a few folks left with judgments against them from this "wave" of stupidity on the part of the counties that participated in this nonsense.
How would you like to be in jail or prison and be denied an extra blanket to sleep with at night even if you could afford to BUY it for yourself and were denied the privilege of buying it as more than 2 blankets were against the rules? How would you like to eat monotonous meals every week where the meal calendar was posted by the month and repeated ad nauseum with no hope of changing? How would you like sleeping under extremely thread bare sheets or having to dry off with a towel that was not much bigger than a hand towel you had at home? Oh sure, you can buy items from the commissary, but the items are extremely limited in selection and are extremely pricey.
I feel that jail, of course, should be for the violent criminals. I liked the idea of the punishment fitting the crime, but then, what would be the punishment for habitual DUI or DWI folks?
Jail and prison are there for a reason. To hopefully give the criminal time to think about what they did and to hopefully make them realize that if they keep doing this or that crime that they will be back there looking at the 4 walls and looking at the other folks that they would never willingly associate with outside of jail under even good conditions. Crimes are easy to commit. Jail time is never easy to do.
In my opinion what's wrong with over charging people in prison? Saves tax payers money if i'm not mistaken. It's not the tax payers fault people are getting sent to prison for making poor choices.
In my opinion what's wrong with over charging people in prison?
Hello snippy:
It's not a matter of making their time in prison easier. It's also not a matter of making it harder either... It's NOT really about THEM at all. It's really about US.
Everyone of them, with few exceptions, will be out at sometime. It's not in society's interest to dump these people on the streets, ANGRY from being abused in the joint, with NO money and NO skills.
That guy is more than likely to partake in crime once again. Do I think that if we didn't rip them off, and attempted to give them some skills that could keep them out of the joint, that MOST of them would never return????
Well, I wouldn't go so far as to say MOST. But, if we can improve our rate a little bit, we'll SAVE money.
We could just have HARSHER punishments like some other countries, which would cut down criminal activity.
I think it's the japanese where if somebody murders another person. That person is then executed with a bullet to the head, and that bullet is then mailed to the murderers family as a bill which the family has to pay. This is what a history teacher told me in the past anyways, it could be false.
But imagine if we had HARSH punishments. Criminals are lucky they are not living in other countries commiting crimes.
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