Our statewide investigation analyzes policies at 75 facilities representing 74 counties across Ohio. More than half of jails, 40 of the 75, charge people for their incarceration through a booking fee, a daily fee, or both. Ohioans are getting billed up to $66.09 a day to be in jail.
66 bucks a day? That's twice my mortgage.
Yep! And (not to downplay the struggles of being a working class person with a mortgage but) you at least have the privilege of, y’know, not being in prison so you can get a job to pay off said debt as time goes on.
These guys just get dumped out of prison only to immediately be saddled with that ruinous financial burden.
"Well as long as they're working full time while inside, at least they can use that to pay for incarceration. It actually does seem fair that they need to be working instead of literally just sitting around, and then that can pay for their right to continue to exist."
"Okay, so we could do that, but also, hear me out for a second"
But you don't have as much hired help. You have to take into account the room service.
And note that people in jail have not necessarily even been to court yet. They just can't afford bail. They might be found not guilty and still have to pay for their time locked up.
I heard there was someone in the UK who got cleared of a crime and then was charged an accommodation fee or something because apparently since they were innocent they had no right to be in prison. Last I heard, gov was going to overturn this law
That article also says-
The maximum payment in cases where someone has been in jail for more than 10 years is £1m.
Pretty good deal for the government there too.
America has the largest prison population in the world, including "authoritarian" countries several times our size.
I'm sure that has NOTHING AT ALL to do with the fact that states get better contracts with private jailers for keeping prisons near max capacity :)
I'm sure it has nothing to do with how the 13th amendment was worded either
"Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction."
How is that legal? America, why you be like this?
Here is one act that wrote it into law. 😒 I wish it would name and shame the people and parties that voted for this so we could learn from those mistakes.
edit: idk why people are downvoting this i meant this kindly as an answer to your question 😭
It is still possible to learn from the mistakes without name and shame blaming.
Though if you want to name and shame blame, politicians have to record the source of their donations, so it's possible to list those that are currently taking money from the prison system and blocking change.
I honestly don't understand America though, in other countries lobbying would be called corruption.
*Pay to be enslaved
"pay to stay" so if they don't pay they can't stay? are they freed?
If you have to pay for your imprisonment, you should also be able to pick the institution. Check La Catedral for implementation.
