Thanks as always for your support

I don't understand how they can get away with paying them nothing for work in the prison. We are going to show them the value of an honest hard days work and then not reward them for doing so and then wonder why the go on to recidivate? The values are not aligned here and it is obvious.

This was really, really a good video. Thanks so much for this.

Way to make me cry REW! :-) I actually have a little experience with this JPay place - to make payments on my son's probation fees they have an online system - i went there and they were going to charge a hefty fee to pay a payment - i think it was like 25 bucks! So i had my son call them and they said we could make payments over the phone but there would be also some fee - the 3rd alternative was to get a money order and send snail mail - that is exactly what they got! I went to Amscot got free money orders and mailed them snail mail with a tracking number - I would rather give the USPS a small profit than those crooks!! This is absolutely atrocious!

Advocate,

It hurt me, too. The fact that many mothers and wives----and their children----are having to do without some of the essentials just because our government allows some company to make millions off inmates just infuriates the hell out of me. They have to send in money just to keep their loved ones from suffering.

But what do you expect? They pay the inmates so little that they cannot get any money out of them, so they are now placing the burden on the families, knowing full well that the families will not allow their loved ones to suffer in prison.

I saw some of this in prison. Of course, the meals were terrible-----barely edible-----but the servings got smaller and smaller the longer I was in. I had money on the books, but for many inmates, I am sure it would have been nice to be able to afford a cookie at night to keep them from going hungry.

And the heat was always a problem. The prison almost makes an inmate---forces him---to buy the clothes from the commissary needed to keep warm because they refuse to furnish any for the inmates. They supply you with a sheet and a rather thin blanket and almost no warm clothes.

Since there is very little heat in some of the cells, an inmate has to buy sweat clothes and thick socks just to stay warm.

Just such a mess and I am ashamed of this country. I bet the odor in hell with be unbearable, as there will surely be a lot of people in this country ROTTING in hell someday.

Man's inhumanity to mankind just floors me.

rewdaizepam

Thanks for that report Rew, I printed that for my son to read. Everything you and others have said are all true.

I never imagined these things happen in our country but they do everyday. I have to admit until my son was arrested and the whole nightmare started I knew nothing about prison let alone what families and the inmates are subjected to everyday. I get so mad reading all the posts from family members who feel as helpless as me to make changes to our awful justice system.

My son makes around 19 cents an hour, barely enough to "live" on even in prison. For now he has family who sends him money but what happens someday when we are all gone...this is what I think about everyday.

This is the only place I can come where people understand what I am living because we are all living it together and it's the nightmare that never ends.

Thanks again Rew for your never ending support here for all of us!!

Debbie

Some prisons have no air, and they allocate x rolls per month of TP. If you have a problem and run out early, too bad for you. Hubby knew one guy who had crones disease and the CO's refused to give him more rolls. He eventually was transfered to another prison to address his medical need.

a very excellent and well investigated article! i also found the other smaller one very informative.

http://www.publicintegrity.org/2014/10/01/15809/inside-virtual-tollbooth-many-us-prisons

but until legislation comes up and a law is passed that profits can not be made from another persons suffering or incarceration, it will not get better.

I just don't understand how treating someone less than human is a good way to rehabilitate them.

Exactly - I know that many people on the outside think that if you committed a crime then your time in prison should be very uncomfortable - I see both sides. But there is a huge difference between pampering and mistreatment and when it spills over onto the families and devastates them financially as well as emotionally that makes the government and us the taxpayers (for allowing it) as bad as any criminal. The US punitive system was supposed to be based on the idea of rehabilitation first and long term solutions second.

As we have all discussed before there is something fundamentally going wrong in this country. We have the HIGHEST incarceration numbers in the World! That would be understandable if we had the largest population but we do not. Many believe the reason is the over-criminalization in the US and it that seems like the most plausible reason to me. We are supposed to be the land of the free but we are quickly turning into the land of the incarcerated and oppressed. We are also turning into the land of the homeless and unemployed. When a country incarcerates and oppresses its most strong and young population it is headed for ruin.

Some really good sites -

This one has some terrific articles

http://www.heritage.org/issues/legal/overcriminalization

Excellent article from the same page

http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2014/05/the-extent-of-americas-overcriminalization-problem


Some other info

http://www.nacdl.org/overcrim/

http://www.rightoncrime.com/priority-issues/overcriminalization/

great article

http://www.presstv.com/detail/2014/08/05/374174/the-overcriminalization-of-american-people/

http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/us/2012/March/Overcriminalization-Making-Us-a-Nation-of-Felons/

Wow sorry but another great article! Wall Street Journal

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052748703749504576172714184601654?mg=reno64-wsj&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB10001424052748703749504576172714184601654.html#project%3DCRIMES_FEDOFFENSES_1107%26articleTabs%3Dinteractive

I'm glad you posted this, because it got me thinking about how I send money . Even tho my son is out I have 2 adopted inmates that I periodically send money to. They were there, and still are, for my son. They're both like family to us now. I usually use Western Union but I think I'm just going to take that walk to the post office and pick up some money orders instead and mail it. It will take longer but it will save me a lot in the end.

First of all, thanks Rew! Excellent post! Secondly, Nakohichi, I quit sending money by credit card because it costs $9.95 and now I go to the post office and the costs if $1.25 for the money order. I would rather give the money to the post office than having it go back into prison. They make enough money on my son with him in the private prison. Its really sad though. The same holds true with the phone calls. I usually bite the bullet and put the money on my credit card because when your minutes run out, you don't want to miss another call. So I deal with that but that is also a $9.95 charge. I think it is unfair that they charge these rates. It used to be $7.95 and then they went up this year. I thought they were trying to get the prices down. I just don't think the prisons care. Its all about the money. I don't think there should be privately owned prisons. Its just a money making racket!

Rew, it sure sounds like you were at the same yard my husband's at. And I know you said you were in Oklahoma, so you might've been. He has no air conditioning and wasn't issued anything warm. A guy leaving gave him his blanket and it was taken away because they're not allowed to have more than one. They informed us at the beginning of the year that they are no longer accepting money orders. We HAVE to use J-Pay. Thanks for the article. It sure hits close to home for me!

i actually use western union to put money on kelly's comm acct it costs me $3.95. for me, by time i drive to the post office, buy the money order, a stamp, then drive back home and the convenience, it's cheaper and easier. it's quicker, easier and safer as far as i'm concerned. i can do it in less than 5min, it hits her acct in minutes and i get a confirmation email with a number i can use if there's any problem.

i know that there is a difference in costs of phone calls, commissary items and what not. but i know that the phone costs are cheaper for us now that she is in a fed prison.