Posted on 11/02/2009 5:03:27 PM PST by kellynla
Bristol County Sheriff Thomas Hodgson’s controversial program to charge inmates for rent, haircuts, medical visits and high school equivalency tests raised $750,000, but outraged inmate advocates who said the fees violated their constitutional rights and amounted to an unlawful tax.
Five years after a judge struck down the program - ruling that county sheriffs do not have the authority to charge such fees - Hodgson is reviving the proposal. The state’s highest court will hear arguments in Hodgson’s appeal today.
When he initially imposed the fees in 2002, Hodgson said he believed they could help teach inmates to accept responsibility for their actions and ease the burden on taxpayers, who pay for inmate services.
Among the payments he charged was a $5 per day “cost of care” fee for each inmate. The fees were deducted from inmates’ canteen accounts, where they keep personal money to buy food and hygiene products.
(Excerpt) Read more at bostonherald.com ...
It prolly won’t go anywhere again, unless it is coded into criminal penalty law.
I’m for most of this, but they shouldn’t be charging for high school equivelency tests. That’s something the prisons should be encouraging.
They don’t wanna pay? No HINI shots then.
They don’t wanna pay? No HINI shots then.
Add that to the innumerable state, county and city laws and every one of us could wind up dealing with this.
Be careful what you wish for, you might just get it.
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