3 ms·

Given that jails don't charge the inmates to stay there, your analogy is quite broken. Taxpayers foot the bill either way.

squarefoot 9y ago
But where does the money come from then? Or better, where the incentive to put minor offenders in jail comes from? Especially taking into account how this makes much harder for them to have a normal life (job, friends, familiy etc.) afterwards. It seems things are arranged to get more people behind bars and make easier for them to return there; that way people who enter a jail for something trivial are more likely to become real criminals. Some other users corrected me about the number of private jails so I'm genuinely interested to know. There are businesses involved with procuring guards, firearms, clothing, meals etc, but that would not change much in state owned prisons; in many countries it's perfectly normal to have public entities subcontracting services to the private sector.
FireBeyond 9y ago
Ummm, in many places in the US, absolutely does the jail charge inmates to stay there. Find yourself locked up in Macomb Co, MI? You will receive a bill for $60/day for your incarceration as you are released. Florida State Prison? Be prepared for a "cost of incarceration lien" to be levied by the state at the rate of $50/day for often multi-year sentences. Such fees are authorized (though not always enforced) in 43 states. So the analogy is not at all broken. 1. http://money.cnn.com/2015/09/18/news/economy/prison-fees-inmates-debt/index.html http://money.cnn.com/2015/09/18/news/economy/prison-fees-inm... 2. http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-34705968 http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-34705968 3. https://www.brennancenter.org/analysis/paying-your-time-how-charging-inmates-fees-behind-bars-may-violate-excessive-fines-clause https://www.brennancenter.org/analysis/paying-your-time-how-...
- drharby 9y ago
  Wait - Really? Cruel and unusual?

squarefoot 9y ago

But where does the money come from then? Or better, where the incentive to put minor offenders in jail comes from? Especially taking into account how this makes much harder for them to have a normal life (job, friends, familiy etc.) afterwards. It seems things are arranged to get more people behind bars and make easier for them to return there; that way people who enter a jail for something trivial are more likely to become real criminals. Some other users corrected me about the number of private jails so I'm genuinely interested to know. There are businesses involved with procuring guards, firearms, clothing, meals etc, but that would not change much in state owned prisons; in many countries it's perfectly normal to have public entities subcontracting services to the private sector.

FireBeyond 9y ago

Ummm, in many places in the US, absolutely does the jail charge inmates to stay there. Find yourself locked up in Macomb Co, MI? You will receive a bill for $60/day for your incarceration as you are released. Florida State Prison? Be prepared for a "cost of incarceration lien" to be levied by the state at the rate of $50/day for often multi-year sentences. Such fees are authorized (though not always enforced) in 43 states. So the analogy is not at all broken. 1. http://money.cnn.com/2015/09/18/news/economy/prison-fees-inmates-debt/index.html http://money.cnn.com/2015/09/18/news/economy/prison-fees-inm... 2. http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-34705968 http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-34705968 3. https://www.brennancenter.org/analysis/paying-your-time-how-charging-inmates-fees-behind-bars-may-violate-excessive-fines-clause https://www.brennancenter.org/analysis/paying-your-time-how-...

drharby 9y ago
Wait - Really? Cruel and unusual?