The vast majority of states allow people to be charged for time behind bars

 

The vast majority of states allow people to be charged for time behind bars

Transcript¹

Michigan inmates² can be billed up to $60 a day for time in a county jail. Some defend the practice as a way to reimburse³ taxpayers⁴, but advocates say the pay-to-stay fees heap on extra punishment.

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Being sentenced for a crime could cost you more than just time behind bars. Prisons and jails across the country are billing inmates for room and board. Some criminal justice reformers in Michigan and other states say the so-called pay-to-stay fees are another example of the hidden costs of incarceration⁵, and they're pushing for the fees to be eliminated.

From member station WKAR in Lansing, Sarah Lehr reports.

SARAH LEHR, BYLINE⁶: Here in Central Michigan, for every day you're locked up in Eaton County after being sentenced, the jail bills you $32. That's because of a 1984 state law giving county jails the option to charge convicted inmates up to $60 a day for lodging⁷. Although Michigan was an early adopter of the practice, the vast majority of states now allow people to be charged for time behind bars.

Lisa Foster is a retired⁸ judge who now leads the Fines and Fees Justice Center. She advocates to reduce financial penalties for incarcerated⁹ people and argues they further an unequal justice system and punish the poor. Foster says pay-to-stay policies became popular during the 1980s, when the prison population ballooned and agencies tried to claw back money amid federal cuts to local law enforcement. But in practice, the fees have not been a robust¹⁰ moneymaker.

LISA FOSTER: That's because the people who are in the system are overwhelmingly poor and unable to pay their fees. So what you see routinely is collection rates that hover¹¹ in the 10%, 15% range at most.

LEHR: Eaton County assessed more than $1 million from pay-to-stay fees over the last two fiscal¹² years but collected only 5% of that money. Despite that low payment rate, Rick Jones, a former state senator who also served as Eaton County sheriff, supports keeping the fees in place.

RICK JONES: I'm sure that the taxpayers would say, even if you're only getting a small percent, at least that's a percentage that the taxpayers didn't have to pay.

LEHR: Brittany Friedman teaches sociology at the University of Southern California. Her research shows the effects of jail debt can be far-reaching.

BRITTANY FRIEDMAN: If pay-to-stay is really meant to offset¹³ the costs of incarcerating¹⁴ people, then why are we sticking them with a bill that then further tethers them to the system?

LEHR: Josh Hoe is a registered sex offender¹⁵ who knows the system firsthand. He now works as a policy analyst¹⁶ for a nonprofit called Safe & Just Michigan. Before being sent to prison, he owed more than $1,000 in fees from just over a month at the Macomb County Jail. He says many formerly¹⁷ incarcerated people struggle just to find someone who will hire them because of their criminal records.

JOSH HOE: The worst thing you can do when someone's trying to reenter is make them desperate, and you bring them back where they have no money, no hope. You know, you've put a bunch of debt on them.

LEHR: In Greater Lansing, the Ingham County Jail recently reduced its daily pay-to-stay fees from $50 to only $8, in part because collection rates were so low. But Asia Johnson, a fellow at the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University, wants to see all fees eliminated. She spent nine years locked up in a Michigan prison.

ASIA JOHNSON: It's a disruption to their ability to pay their bills, child care, their job. Like, you're already losing so much by being in jail.

LEHR: Johnson and others say pay-to-stay fees are just one more hurdle¹⁸ for incarcerated people as they try to reenter society and that they can be counterproductive in the long run.

For NPR News, I'm Sarah Lehr in Lansing, Mich.

(SOUNDBITE OF ODDISEE'S "AFTER THOUGHTS")

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 inmates   

n.囚犯( inmate的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• One of the inmates has escaped. 被收容的人中有一个逃跑了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The inmates were moved to an undisclosed location. 监狱里的囚犯被转移到一个秘密处所。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 reimburse   

v.补偿，付还

参考例句：

• We'll reimburse you for your travelling expenses.我们将付还你旅费。
• The funds are supposed to reimburse policyholders in the event of insurer failure.这项基金将在保险公司不能偿付的情况下对投保人进行赔付。

4 taxpayers   

纳税人，纳税的机构( taxpayer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Finance for education comes from taxpayers. 教育经费来自纳税人。
• She was declaiming against the waste of the taxpayers' money. 她慷慨陈词猛烈抨击对纳税人金钱的浪费。

5 incarceration   

n.监禁，禁闭；钳闭

参考例句：

• He hadn't changed much in his nearly three years of incarceration. 在将近三年的监狱生活中，他变化不大。 来自辞典例句
• Please, please set it free before it bursts from its long incarceration! 请你，请你将这颗心释放出来吧！否则它会因长期的禁闭而爆裂。 来自辞典例句

6 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

7 lodging   

n.寄宿，住所；(大学生的)校外宿舍

参考例句：

• The bill is inclusive of the food and lodging. 账单包括吃、住费用。
• Where can you find lodging for the night? 你今晚在哪里借宿?

8 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

9 incarcerated   

钳闭的

参考例句：

• They were incarcerated for the duration of the war. 战争期间，他们被关在狱中。 来自辞典例句
• I don't want to worry them by being incarcerated. 我不想让他们知道我被拘禁的事情。 来自电影对白

10 robust   

adj.强壮的，强健的，粗野的，需要体力的，浓的

参考例句：

• She is too tall and robust.她个子太高，身体太壮。
• China wants to keep growth robust to reduce poverty and avoid job losses,AP commented.美联社评论道，中国希望保持经济强势增长，以减少贫困和失业状况。

11 hover   

vi.翱翔，盘旋；徘徊；彷徨，犹豫

参考例句：

• You don't hover round the table.你不要围着桌子走来走去。
• A plane is hover on our house.有一架飞机在我们的房子上盘旋。

12 fiscal   

adj.财政的，会计的，国库的，国库岁入的

参考例句：

• The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。
• The government has two basic strategies of fiscal policy available.政府有两个可行的财政政策基本战略。

13 offset   

n.分支，补偿；v.抵消，补偿

参考例句：

• Their wage increases would be offset by higher prices.他们增加的工资会被物价上涨所抵消。
• He put up his prices to offset the increased cost of materials.他提高了售价以补偿材料成本的增加。

14 incarcerating   

vt.监禁，禁闭（incarcerate的现在分词形式）

参考例句：

15 offender   

n.冒犯者，违反者，犯罪者

参考例句：

• They all sued out a pardon for an offender.他们请求法院赦免一名罪犯。
• The authorities often know that sex offenders will attack again when they are released.当局一般都知道性犯罪者在获释后往往会再次犯案。

16 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

17 formerly   

adv.从前，以前

参考例句：

• We now enjoy these comforts of which formerly we had only heard.我们现在享受到了过去只是听说过的那些舒适条件。
• This boat was formerly used on the rivers of China.这船从前航行在中国内河里。

18 hurdle   

n.跳栏，栏架；障碍，困难；vi.进行跨栏赛

参考例句：

• The weather will be the biggest hurdle so I have to be ready.天气将会是最大的障碍，所以我必须要作好准备。
• She clocked 11.6 seconds for the 80 metre hurdle.八十米跳栏赛跑她跑了十一秒六。