"Pay to Stay" Jail Cells and How Wealth Makes a "Good" Person

originally posted by: Grimpachi
a reply to: mOjOm

I truly believe money is the root of all evil. Some argue that we need it but I disagree. Money is just an idea man created, it doesn't exist in nature.

This article just goes to show what we really value in this society.

a reply to: asmall89

Without money there would still be bartering and that is human nature.

The closest you get to that in the modern world is trading in your car and I don't know anyone that enjoys that debacle.

originally posted by: rukia
But if they had such good lawyers they should have gotten off. Or they actually did something worth going to jail for.

Did they? 93% of the US prison population has not been found guilty by a judge or jury. It was a result of a plea bargain, a prosecutor deciding your fate.

a reply to: mOjOm

I thought it was common knowledge that US prison system and even justice system is A BUSINESS

Hey that's Merican way

Don't like it

Move to Mongolia LOL

Critics argue that the systems create inherent injustices, offering cleaner, safer alternatives to those who can pay.

“It seems to be to be a little unfair,” said Mike Jackson, the training manager of the National Sheriff’s Association. “Two people come in, have the same offense, and the guy who has money gets to pay to stay and the other doesn’t. The system is supposed to be equitable.”

But cities argue that the paying inmates generate cash, often hundreds of thousands of dollars a year — enabling them to better afford their other taxpayer-financed operations — and are generally easy to deal with.

“We never had a problem with self pay,” said Steve Lechuga, the operations manager for CSI. “I haven’t seen any fights in years. We had a really good success rate with them.”

Yeah it's amazing how a cleaner, safer, more comfortable environment leads to less violence and a higher success rate.

You'd think the people in charge would want this for all non violent inmates in order to provide a safer working environment for guards, medical staff and other employees. Not to mention to achieve the whole reason for the existence of these institutions: rehabilitation.

Shouldn't the protesters in Baltimore be chanting:

No money!
No justice!

Our country is gravely ill.
This is but one more sign.
We've done a 180 degree turn since 9/10/2001

You know, I thought I had it good when they ordered me to do 15 days in jail (for driving with a suspended liense, go FL) on weekends so I could continue to work and be with my family. This program I would have paid for in a heartbeat. Perhaps they are getting ready to roll out the prison complex in full stream, and they will soon need options for the "good people that made mistakes". I suppose this could only happen in California, but I have a feeling it wont be too long before Florida follows suit.

a reply to: 3n19m470

You would think so wouldn't you? It's almost as if they don't really want to rehabilitate or treat anyone at all but instead just think of themselves and how many ways they can exploit the system.

Who would've dreamed such a thing???

a reply to: DYepes

Oh no. You still don't get it. This isn't a California thing. That was just the example I gave. This is everywhere already. All over the nation.

originally posted by: Asktheanimals
Shouldn't the protesters in Baltimore be chanting:

No money!
No justice!

Our country is gravely ill.
This is but one more sign.
We've done a 180 degree turn since 9/10/2001

I don't understand what you mean by this?? Explain???

a reply to: mOjOm

I would only buy this option if I were being sent to an actual prison. If I was just going to a county jail for under a year I would not bother. County jails are stricter and locked down better than state and private prisons.

a reply to: DYepes

Ok, but that is kinda missing the point which is that there shouldn't be an official policy within the Justice system where people with money get to buy better justice than poor people. Real Justice isn't for sale or like I said, it's not justice at all.

The entire system is a failure. You need only look at the function of bail, one of the biggest scams ever thought up.

Which essentially was originally created so that the more fortunate reserved the option to flee abroad or not.

These days it's more about profit though. ~$heopleNation

a reply to: SheopleNation

hey man, if there were no bail I would be sitting in jail until trial for driving with a suspended license. That is not fair to me. I did not even commit a moving violation, just decided to randomly pull me over. I dont have money for a trial so I just plead for the 15 days, and they offered me weekends. And I was like "ohh hey this weekends thing is not so bad." I actually get 3 days credit for only two.

Then my cousin brought up a thought process I overlooked. he mentions to me "you do realize you just accepted in your head thats its not so bad to be in jail so long as it is on decent terms" . Then I realized oh crap, your right.

It almost seems like the goal is to make you more comfortable during incarceration so one would not complain abut constantly being there, all the while foregoing the fact your freedom and liberty is still gone.

a reply to: DYepes

Oh I am not arguing against bail, I was just making the point that it's a scam. And obviously if you have more money concerning certain charges, you will have the ability to get yourself bailed out, where someone not so well off could not. ~$heopleNation

a reply to: SheopleNation

The highest bond I ever had was $20,000 for an incident when I was 18 that thrown out of court. Unfortunatley I had to sit for 37 days until then as nobody I knew had $2000 to give away and never get back to get me out for that. Thankfully the truth made it out during a hearing, and the dirty perv as forced to drop the charges against the four of us.

Warning to all, be very careful when you attempt to carry out vigilante justice, even if the 35 year old man whos teeth you knocked out was attempting to extort sex for money from a troubled 15 year old. And his wife was pregnant with their 5 child. I dread to think what the family situation is like today, it was eleven years ago.

Yes it is a #ed up world. But the best thing we can do is remain positive. You think more anger will help? Yes it is horrible...but be the light in the darkness not the one pointing at the darkness magnifying it..perpetuating it.

originally posted by: ZacharyW
Yes it is a #ed up world. But the best thing we can do is remain positive. You think more anger will help? Yes it is horrible...but be the light in the darkness not the one pointing at the darkness magnifying it..perpetuating it.

Well, in Baltimore they had to burn down a few buildings to get the attention of the apathetic nation. It doesn't seem like being a light in the darkness helps much.

originally posted by: DYepes

The highest bond I ever had was $20,000 for an incident when I was 18 that thrown out of court. Unfortunatley I had to sit for 37 days until then as nobody I knew had $2000 to give away and never get back to get me out for that. Thankfully the truth made it out during a hearing, and the dirty perv as forced to drop the charges against the four of us.

That is a bummer that you had to spend that long in one of those crap holes, and then to have it dismissed. When I was younger the longest I spent was a weekend. I remember the night I arrived, it was at Santa Rita County Jail, California.

So they gave me my mattress, and sent me up to the unit I was assigned to. At this place there are no individual cells, there are just dorms of 3 person bunks that are stacked. Probably around 27 per dorm.

So I walk in and there are two cots available, one on each end. It was full of black dudes other than 2 Mexicans, and this one skinhead white guy where one of the available cots were located. The other free cot a group of black guys were playing dominoes on.

Anyway I walk in and the skinhead dude starts waving for me to come over. Everyone else was watching to see my next move. I walked over to the cot where the game of dominoes was going on, obviously nervous. I said hey sorry to bust your game up, but I need that cot.

They looked up at me, and then looked at each other. Irritated, they packed up their game, and I threw my mattress down. The Black dudes turned out being real cool to me. They were giving me books and I made friends with this one really nice guy.

With that being said, this was county. If it had been a federal penitentiary, I would have bunked up next to the Skinhead dude. ~$heopleNation