How the For-Profit Probation Industry Preys on the Poor
Thomas Barrett spent months in jail because he could not afford heavy probation fees. His original crime: stealing a $2 can of beer. (Human Rights Watch)
A new Human Rights Watch report released Wednesday, Jan. 5th, documents how the growing use of for-profit probation companies traps poor Americans in the criminal justice system—sometimes jailing them—for misdemeanor crimes or even minor traffic violations.
The report, titled “Profiting From Probation: America’s ‘Offender-Funded’ Probation Industry,” describes a for-profit model that incentivizes probation companies to prey on poor misdemeanor offenders, ensnaring them in debt and threatening imprisonment if financial obligations are not met. As Chris Albom-Lackey, the researcher at Human Rights Watch who authored the report, writes, “In fact, the business of many private probation companies is built largely on the willingness of courts to discriminate against poor offenders who can only afford to pay their fines in installments over time.”
Here are some of the HRW’s key findings:
Note: Click Title Link For Complete Nation Article by Steven Hsieh plus HRW Video
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Ralph Nader: The Law Must Be Free and Accessible to All -- Not Secret and Profitable
If the law is to be understood and obeyed, it must be public information. How can we follow the law if we don't know what it is?
This is the astonishingly unfortunate reality for a large number of our nation's laws -- fire codes, building codes, electrical codes, food safety regulations, state and municipal codes and more. Obviously, there is a significant difference between highway laws and technical safety codes, but the root of the issue is the same -- the public must have ready access to the law. The "signs" must be in plain sight for all to see.
Many of these technical codes are drafted by nonprofit corporations, associated with industries, but are incorporated into law by local, state and federal governments -- they are, in effect, corporate laws enforced by the state. If you want to read these legally binding rules of law you must purchase them yearly for $1000 or more per copy. (In other cases, the laws are simply so dated or difficult to locate that the simple act of acquiring them creates significant obstacles to knowing your rights and obligations.)
The inability of citizens to know the law poses a very large problem in our democracy. To be informed of the law one needs free and easy access to it. What if dedicated citizens want to educate themselves and others on the many technical standards that govern the infrastructure we all regularly use? What if citizen watchdogs want to engage in debate on policy and regulation?
Fortunately, the Supreme Court has several times affirmed the obvious notion that the public law should be free and available to all. Relying on those decisions, the U.S. Court of Appeals in Veeck v. Southern Building Code Congress decided in 2002 that a building code incorporated into law belongs in the public domain. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer even once said, "if a law isn't public, it isn't a law." Unfortunately, legal precedent has not stopped certain private organizations from fighting to keep their codes off the Internet, entangled by copyright law and out of the public's hands.
Note: Click Link For Complete Huffington Post Commentary by Ralph Nader
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Thomas Barrett spent months in jail because he could not afford heavy probation fees. His original crime: stealing a $2 can of beer. (Human Rights Watch)
A new Human Rights Watch report released Wednesday, Jan. 5th, documents how the growing use of for-profit probation companies traps poor Americans in the criminal justice system—sometimes jailing them—for misdemeanor crimes or even minor traffic violations.
The report, titled “Profiting From Probation: America’s ‘Offender-Funded’ Probation Industry,” describes a for-profit model that incentivizes probation companies to prey on poor misdemeanor offenders, ensnaring them in debt and threatening imprisonment if financial obligations are not met. As Chris Albom-Lackey, the researcher at Human Rights Watch who authored the report, writes, “In fact, the business of many private probation companies is built largely on the willingness of courts to discriminate against poor offenders who can only afford to pay their fines in installments over time.”
Here are some of the HRW’s key findings:
- Under the “offender-funded” model, private firms levy fees on poor probationers that are are financially crushing and often times impossible to pay off. On top of exorbitant supervision fees, many offenders must pay for their own electronic monitoring (up to $360 per month) and drug tests (up to $1,250 per year).
- Some courts sentence offenders to probation simply because they cannot afford fines and court costs, a practice called “pay only probation” that Human Rights Watch deems “a legal fiction.” In effect, poorer offenders stay on probation longer and end up paying significantly more, due to supervision fees levied by private firms.
- Private probation officers routinely use “abusive” tactics to collect debts from offenders. These range from coercive demands (“I hope you have all my money today”) to threats of imprisonment.
- Though the US Supreme Court ruled it unconstitutional to incarcerate probationers who genuinely cannot afford fines, there is little effort made to understand offenders’ financial situations. The report says many probation revocation hearings last just minutes, and few offenders are offered legal representation.
- There is practically no transparency in the industry. Private probation companies aren’t required to disclose revenues they make from probationers and do not offer that information voluntarily.
- While it’s impossible to get exact figures, HRW used a law unique to Georgia to estimate that private probation companies make roughly $40 million in minimum annual revenues in the state alone.
Note: Click Title Link For Complete Nation Article by Steven Hsieh plus HRW Video
.......................................................................................................................................................
Ralph Nader: The Law Must Be Free and Accessible to All -- Not Secret and Profitable
If the law is to be understood and obeyed, it must be public information. How can we follow the law if we don't know what it is?
This is the astonishingly unfortunate reality for a large number of our nation's laws -- fire codes, building codes, electrical codes, food safety regulations, state and municipal codes and more. Obviously, there is a significant difference between highway laws and technical safety codes, but the root of the issue is the same -- the public must have ready access to the law. The "signs" must be in plain sight for all to see.
Many of these technical codes are drafted by nonprofit corporations, associated with industries, but are incorporated into law by local, state and federal governments -- they are, in effect, corporate laws enforced by the state. If you want to read these legally binding rules of law you must purchase them yearly for $1000 or more per copy. (In other cases, the laws are simply so dated or difficult to locate that the simple act of acquiring them creates significant obstacles to knowing your rights and obligations.)
The inability of citizens to know the law poses a very large problem in our democracy. To be informed of the law one needs free and easy access to it. What if dedicated citizens want to educate themselves and others on the many technical standards that govern the infrastructure we all regularly use? What if citizen watchdogs want to engage in debate on policy and regulation?
Fortunately, the Supreme Court has several times affirmed the obvious notion that the public law should be free and available to all. Relying on those decisions, the U.S. Court of Appeals in Veeck v. Southern Building Code Congress decided in 2002 that a building code incorporated into law belongs in the public domain. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer even once said, "if a law isn't public, it isn't a law." Unfortunately, legal precedent has not stopped certain private organizations from fighting to keep their codes off the Internet, entangled by copyright law and out of the public's hands.
Note: Click Link For Complete Huffington Post Commentary by Ralph Nader
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