Taxed for going to Jail

[n2doc]

Glendale's latest tax: $135 fee for jail inmates
June 16, 2010 | 7:45 am
In Glendale, even the jail inmates are feeling the pinch of the government budget crisis.

The Glendale Police Department has added a $135 fee for inmates booked into the jail.

Officials said the fee was added to help recover tens of thousands of dollars in administrative costs.

"The taxpayers shouldn't have to flip the bill every time someone gets arrested," Jail Administrator Juan Lopez told the Glendale News-Press. "So if we can recover some of those fees and alleviate the burden on the law-abiding taxpayer, then that's the responsible thing to do."

Since the fee was initiated, people booked in the city jail have been given a form that advises them of the charge.
If convicted of a crime, the court imposes the jail fine as part of a civil judgment and a condition of their probation, according to a Police Department report.


more

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2010/06/jail-inmates-hit-with-135-by-glendale-police.html

[Wickerman]

1. I got no problem with people convicted of a crime being charged

for their care and feeding. Many municipalities, counties, and I believe states have gone to charging a per diem. Typically, that fee is set on a sliding scale.

[provis99]

2. what if they went to jail for being in debt?

http://uspoverty.change.org/blog/view/the_injustice_of_modern_day_debtors_prisons

How will they make payment if they're already in jail for being in debt?

[Wickerman]

3. well, I'd say we are one case away from that er, remaining unconstitutional

At any rate, I don't see that how the billing for such would be applied as it would be for a civil charge and there is no mechanism for showing convictions for civil charges. Billing tends to occur on conviction and conviction applies to criminal charges.

As the Republicans on the Fed level try to strangle "government" by cutting off funds to local entities the local entities still have to respond to mandates set aside by the Fed. One of those mandates is to house people who have committed crime. In my state, the state and the Fed have simply stopped paying for the housing of the inmate in the County jail level while they await trial and even after conviction as they await the state finding them a bed in a state or fed facility.

Counties are then pressed with cutting funding to other programs so they can keep their jails operational. Making the convicted pay is one solution. What would you propose?