Pay-to-stay (imprisonment) - Wikipedia
en.m.wikipedia.org

Very weird that I am so old and have literally never heard this mentioned in a TV show or book or movie or anything.

In four out of five states, if you go to prison, you are literally paying for the time you spend there.

As you can guess, this results in crippling debt as soon as you’re released.

The county gets back a fraction of what they hold over your head the rest of your life until you commit suicide(or die naturally and peacefully with the sword of damocles hanging over your head).

$20-$80 a day according to Rutgers.

Counties apparently sue people and employ wage garnishment to get back the money that majority of people obviously cannot pay back.

https://www.rutgers.edu/news/states-unfairly-burdening-incarcerated-people-pay-stay-fees

  • filister@lemmy.worldEnglish
    1052·
    6 months ago

    Isn’t the US famous for their prison for profit, where prisons are privately owned and states need to pay if there are fewer incarcerated people inside?

    To me, this sounds straight from 1984.

    • Varyk@sh.itjust.worksOPEnglish
      291·
      6 months ago

      Yeah, the states is the most country with for-profit prisons, and not coincidentally incarcerates the 6th highest percentage of its population of any country, just about half a percent of the total population at any time, or somewhere under 2 million people.

      But boy howdy, do those percentages change when you control for economic class and ethnicity.

    • PsychedSy@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
      15·
      6 months ago

      It’s less than ten percent of federal prisons. Police unions (including correctional officers) have a greater impact.

    • Psychodelic@lemmy.worldEnglish
      22·
      6 months ago

      I don’t remember prisons being mentioned in 1984. They just vaporized people and then acted like they never existed