Jail: Your Rent is Due

Another anecdote of our government at work: as budgets have been trimmed and pruned over the course of this recession, some states facing budget shortfalls have decided to start charging their prison and jail inmates rent. In New York, a bill has been introduced that would charge "wealthy inmates" $90 a day for "room and board." Arizona now charges prisoners $1.25 per day for meals. In Teney County Missouri, officials want to charge inmates $45 dollars a day to help pay for its new jail in Branson. Several other states are now exploring the possibilities of trying to squeeze income from their prisoners. Aside from the sordidness and desperation evident nationwide as local, and state governments scrounge for funding to keep themselves in the business of governing people, I can only wonder: if the inmates are unwilling or unable to pay their rent, will they be evicted? Or will they be sent to jail?

It Has Come to This

There was an article in this morning's paper regarding where to hold the trials of the detainees held in Guantanamo. Many have expressed unease and dismay at the prospect of suspected terrorists being brought to their state. Many, but not all. Workers at the Standish Maximum Security Prison in Michigan said they would welcome the suspects "with open arms." The reason for this welcome is that the influx of prisoners would "save their jobs". Evidently, prison business is slow in Standish due to the recession. Perhaps they should use some of their federal stimulus money to instigate a crime wave so as to prop up the local economy.