What do you think about "pay to stay" jails?

Discussion in 'Politics Discussion' started by ScooterBrandon, Dec 4, 2015.

  1. ScooterBrandon

    ScooterBrandon Senior Investor

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  2. L_B

    L_B Well-Known Member

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    Sounds like a plan. Why should they get to stay somewhere rent free when they committed a crime. We as law abiding citizens have to pay to live. I don't think they should get any special treatments. I have never heard of this before but I am in favor of it. Nothing in life is free. We the tax payers are paying for their prison stay now, let them pay for their own!
     
  3. nissi

    nissi Well-Known Member

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    Yes but not everyone is there for a crime. Actually a lot of them are innocent. Jail is just another scam by the government. They want as many people locked up as possible.
     
  4. crimsonghost747

    crimsonghost747 Senior Investor

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    jail... I think it should be a punishment which it really isn't nowadays. Make them work 8h a day (doing something productive) and of course cut down on the expenses... maybe make them pay for things like internet access, better food etc. Guess they could work more than 8h (voluntary) so they could afford some of these things.

    As it is now (at least in Europe), the criminals have a better quality of life than most ordinary people can afford.
     
  5. ScooterBrandon

    ScooterBrandon Senior Investor

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    Most prisons make the inmate populations work for little to no wages. You also cannot do much in an American jail without paying a huge premium for it. So what you are saying is actually how the system in many US states works.
    BUT inmates who work 40+ hours a week come out of jail still owing thousands. They end up committing crimes to get that money or just don't pay it and end up right back in jail, which costs taxpayers MORE then if they were not charged to stay there.
    Another example of something that may seem like a good idea ideologically on paper ends up being terrible in real life and has the opposite effect of what we want it to be.
     
  6. pwarbi

    pwarbi Senior Investor

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    Here in the UK there as been a long running argument that the prisnors have it easier in jail, than what a lot of the people do that have a job and are struggling to make ends meet.

    In jail they get paid a wage, even though it is a tiny weekly amount so they can buy cigarettes and other basic things they might want. But they are gaurenteed a roof over their heads, 3 meals a day, and in a lot of prisons over here, access to TV and video games.

    Put it this way, they may not have their freedom, but they're a lot better off than the people living in poverty, threatened with homelessness and having to rely on food banks to live. Surely that can't be right?
     
  7. crimsonghost747

    crimsonghost747 Senior Investor

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    So done right it could indeed be a good system. The work and the luxuries that come with working extra need to be an incentive, not something they can just get an "ohh I'll pay you later". Sounds like your description just basically tries to cash in on the prisoners, making the jail more a business than a correctional facility.
     
  8. Corzhens

    Corzhens Senior Investor

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    How could a convicted criminal who murdered for money pay his room and board in jail? In the first place, he was arrested and incarcerated for committing a crime due to his financial needs. In other words, where would the inmates get the money to pay the jail? But don't get me wrong, I like the idea because it seems that we are feeding those criminals. Maybe the government can force the payment for those inmates with assets that the government can confiscate.
     
  9. ScooterBrandon

    ScooterBrandon Senior Investor

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    Right exactly.
    In the USA corrections is actually a for-profit business. Corrections Corporations of America is a billion dollar publicly traded company.
     
  10. crimsonghost747

    crimsonghost747 Senior Investor

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    Ohh wow, I knew they were doing business with it even before this conversation but I never imagined it to be this large scale. I'll look into this company sooner or later, looks like they have an endless stream of customers that won't be going away anytime soon. ;) Close to the 52 week lows and a mighty dividend yield (though doesn't look too sustainable with the EPS) so I guess it's worth a better look when I find the time.
     

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