Out of Prison and Deep in Debt

[Aviation Pro]

When are the naive going to figure out that that is exactly what those who want to perpetuate the criminal-industrial complex want? Afterall, the penal system and everything that supports it is big business

Full article here: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/06/opinion/06sat1.html?ref=opinion&pagewanted=print

With the nation’s incarcerated population at 2.1 million and growing — and corrections costs topping $60 billion a year — states are rightly looking for ways to keep people from coming back to prison once they get out. Programs that help ex-offenders find jobs, housing, mental health care and drug treatment are part of the solution. States must also end the Dickensian practice of saddling ex-offenders with crushing debt that they can never hope to pay off and that drives many of them right back to prison.

The scope of the ex-offender debt problem is outlined in a new study commissioned by the Justice Department’s Bureau of Justice Assistance and produced by the Council of State Governments’ Justice Center. The study, “Repaying Debts,” describes cases of newly released inmates who have been greeted with as much as $25,000 in debt the moment they step outside the prison gate. That’s a lot to owe for most people, but it can be insurmountable for ex-offenders who often have no assets and whose poor educations and criminal records prevent them from landing well-paying jobs.

Often, the lion’s share of the debt is composed of child support obligations that continue to mount while the imprisoned parent is earning no money. The problem does not stop there. The corrections system buries inmates in fines, fees and surcharges that can amount to $10,000 or more. According to the Justice Center study, for example, a person convicted of drunken driving in New York can be charged a restitution fee of $1,000, a probation fee of $1,800 and 11 other fees and charges that range from $20 to nearly $2,200.

-snip-

The states should also develop incentives, including certificates of good conduct and waivers of fines, for ex-offenders who make good-faith efforts to make their payments. Where appropriate, they should be permitted to work off some of the debt through community service. Beyond that, elected officials who worry about recidivism need to understand that bleeding ex-offenders financially is a sure recipe for landing them back in jail.

[Rosemary2205]

1. If you can't do the time

well you know the rest........ it's the repuglican's stupid motto for keeping black men poor and powerless.

[SharonAnn]

2. Children need their parents to support them. If they father children, they're liable for support.

Sorry. i don't consider that particular debt to be a "forgiveable" debt.

[Cerridwen]

3. Neither does anyone who wrote that article...

that would be the article at the link in which it states

Once that parent is released, child support should be paid first.

[flashl]

4. *sigh* US=insane asylum

States are bleeding red from their for-profit "correction" system scams. They are incubating diseases, destroying lifes, can not take care of the aging inmates, and it goes on and on.

[jmm]

5. The problem here is the treatment and court fees.

If somebody has been tried and/or convicted they shouldn't have to pay things like DNA testing or treatment. When states bring charges against people the burden of those costs should be on them. It's in the state's best interest for people to receive treatment and making someone pay for DA testing is essentially forcing them to prove their innocence or testify against them self.

[Bubba HoHoHo Tep]

7. The problem

Is that a lot of these cases are for stupid little drug crimes. If your life is screwed up after a felony, that's harder to fix. But don't ruin someone for a minor drug rap.

[jmm]

8. I wish the article had focused more on that.

I'm not as concerned about the future of somebody with a drunk driving conviction who owes child support as I am with a person whose future career options have been screwed up because of our bad drug policies.

[lynnertic]

11. good point.

[Nutmegger]

6. #5....

Sending this to the greatest.... :kick:

[flashl]

9. Something interesting to add ..

Prisons in U.S. should forsake revenge, try to rehabilitate

I have a modest proposal for a civilized society: Stop trying to take a pound of flesh out of everyone who ends up being locked away and make that time of incarceration a time for rehabilitation, to save a human's life and to make them a more productive member of society once they have served their time. Let's tell our prison system to give us back more job-ready eager citizens and fewer angry criminals.

And then I have some immodest proposals: Let's stop voting for politicians who play to our fear with these "get tough on crime," messages. It's not working. And, come on, let's start to think seriously about our addiction to locking up addicts... that's not working either. Oh, and if you are willing to let me be really immodest, let's come to grips with how our prison system is becoming a government service provider whose "customers" are prisoners so that the system makes more profits by turning prisoners into repeat customers rather than releasing them to never come back. Yes, I know, that's a serious accusation to make, but I believe that there is a growing body of evidence to suggest that private contracted prison businesses are just the tip of an iceberg of a symbiotic relationship between a frightened, revenge-hungry public and a prison system that is all too willing to soak up the construction dollars and salaries required to lock up more and more of our population. As incendiary as I know these suggestions will seem to many readers, I'm pretty sure that I'm right about this one.

Read More ...

[lynnertic]

12. Nobody's mentioned the prison-industrial complex

It's not my flag to carry but I've seen articles in DU about how the use of prison labor is booming.

[flashl]

13. The profits from the PIC is the elephant in the room ...

As complaints about CAFTA and immigration swirls, there is seldom a word about competition from prison labor.

[flashl]

16. The Prison Industrial Complex and the Global Economy

= snip =

Prisons are also a leading rural growth industry. With traditional agriculture being pushed aside by agribusiness, many rural American communities are facing hard times. Economically depressed areas are falling over each other to secure a prison facility of their own. Prisons are seen as a source of jobs in construction, local vendors and prison staff as well as a source of tax revenues. An average prison has a staff of several hundred employees and an annual payroll of several million dollars.

Like any industry, the prison economy needs raw materials. In this case the raw materials are prisoners. The prison industrial complex can grow only if more and more people are incarcerated even if crime rates drop. "Three Strikes" and mandatory minimums (harsh, fixed sentences without parole) are two examples of the legal superstructure quickly being put in place to guarantee that the prison population will grow and grow and grow.

The growth of the prison industrial complex is inextricably tied to the fortunes of labor. Ever since the onset of the Reagan-Bush years in 1980, workers in the United States have been under siege. Aggressive union busting, corporate deregulation, and especially the flight of capital in search of cheaper labor markets, have been crucial factors in the downward plight of American workers.

= snip =

As "criminals" become scapegoats for our floundering economy and our deteriorating social structure, even the guise of rehabilitation is quickly disappearing from our penal philosophy. After all: rehabilitate for what? To go back into an economy which has no jobs? To go back into a community which has no hope? As education and other prison programs are cut back, or in most cases eliminated altogether, prisons are becoming vast, over-crowded, holding tanks. Or worse: factories behind bars. Read More ...

I suspect that the newest growth industry Immigration Detention Centers is just an extension of the PIC, actually, the same players are involved.

Shortly, GEO, the Walmart of PICs, will open an Immigration Detention Center in Jena, LA. Somehow, the town of Jena is being rewarded after Jena's Juvenile Detention Center was forced to close by the Dept. of Justice AND after Katrina inmates temporarily placed in the closed Juvenile facility were abused and brutalized.

[lynnertic]

17. thanks for this information.

Jena sounds like a hellhole, between this and the White Tree.

[OzarkDem]

10. and 18% or more interest, too

its so counterproductive to helping people get their lives back on track.

[KG]

14. US is no longer even pretending to be a kind forgiving nation. it's pulled the mask off to reveal

the nasty mean-spirited bully both at home and across the globe.

america is setting itself up for a big fall.

[Danger Mouse]

15. amerika has a hard-on for retribution.

what can i say? it's from our hardcore puritan roots.