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
I don’t think that’s weird at all. But it certainly says a lot about the US media landscape.
I’ve also never met anyone in real life who has ever heard about this.
And at this point I’ve texted everybody I know.
How did zero people ever in my whole life know this?
Like I know lawyers, and we’ve occasionally talked about how terrible the prison situation in the United States is, it’s crazy that not one of them mentioned that prisoner is also have to pay to stay.
Ever.
Charging a prisoner to stay in jail seems like one of the cruelest parts of prison, now that I know about it. That seems crazy.
And that’s what literally everyone I have told is saying.
“That’s crazy.” And it is. It’s crazy