cross-posted from: https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/19544496
cross-posted from: https://sh.itjust.works/post/18677335
TIL 40 states in the US charge you $20-$80 a day for being incarcerated in prison.
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
$80/day x 365 = $29,200.
$14/hour x 2080 hours (40 hours x 52 weeks) = $29,120
Hopefully you can get a good paying job right out of prison, since you’re only going into more debt if you don’t…
$14/hour? Not likely, 20 states are still at the federal minimum of $7.25/hour, and only like 7 are at $14 or higher.
Lump that together with the massive stigma about hiring people who spent time in prison, the shit education and/or training most incarcerated people receive and they’ll be lucky to get two minimum wage jobs to barely squeak by.
The U.S. never abolished slavery, they just gave it a makeover and called it justice.
God damn that line goes hard
It truly is fucked up how we treat prisoners in this country
It’s not even some kind of conspiracy theory, it’s literally an exception written in the amendment
So just put every single penny you earn towards the debt? Easy peasy.