California prison offering inmates $150 nightly ‘Pay to Stay’ rates

Devine says the prison was originally intended to be used for misdemeanor offenders to perform work while they served out their time. But the prison had remained unused until it was opened for the pay-as-you-go system.

“We are the trustees of a large facility that was paid for with taxpayer money. Now we need to be good stewards of that investment and maximize its use and efficiency for the taxpayers,” Devine said. “There is a cost to government. And that cost, where appropriate, should be borne by the people using the program or facility, or what not.”

However, the pay-as-you-go plan has drawn criticism from the American Civil Liberties Union, who said it creates a bad precedent by giving more preferential treatment to wealthier inmates.

“There should not be one form of punishment for those who can afford to pay and a different form of punishment for those who can’t,” ACLU National Prison Project attorney Carl Takei told the Bee.

 Article Appeared @http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/-california-prison-offering-inmates–150-nightly–pay-to-stay–rates-223622151.html

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