Sweat Equity

You know what really makes me angry about the prison overpopulation problem in this country? It's that someone is making a profit off of it. And when an individual or corporation can make a profit off such human misery the next step is to see to it that their prison's stay full. The most obvious case of such abuse is the Pennsylvania judge caught taking millions in kickbacks from a local prison by jailing thousands of kids for the most minor of infractions. The judge is now serving a 28 year sentence. Couldn't happen to a nicer guy.

BTW, say hello to debtor's prisons again. They're back, even though they were supposed to have been outlawed. For the record, in the 80s the Supreme Court ruled that you could only be sent to sent to jail for nonpayment only if you had the money but refused to pay your debt. Now they toss anyone in the hoosegow for minor infractions and tack on exorbitant fees, sometimes as much as 100%. This severely effects the poor and, being unable to pay, the poor wretches sit in stir until their sentence is served. The prisons say they lose money on the deal but that doesn't make sense. Someone's palms are being greased.

What's worse is that some prisoners now have to pay for the actual cost of being jailed, a sum that can't be paid off in time served. Madness.

Yes, we need jails for real criminals but not for jaywalkers and people who can't pay their medical bills. Maybe I'm crazy but if all Americans had decent-paying jobs we'd need a lot fewer prisons.

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And now, just for fun, take a peek at how they run prisons in Norway.

=Lefty=