In federal prisons, there are very few jobs available. In fact, in some states, inmates aren’t allowed to make any money at all. I don’t know of a single inmate who is able to survive on their own income without any outside help. On top of that, prisons charge an arm and a leg for EVERYTHING! This includes making copies at the copy machine, food, music for their MP3 Player, toiletries, stamps, and more.

Now, the government is purposing a bill that will take 75% of every inmate’s money in federal prison every time a loved one puts it on their books. That money will go to pay for restitution, fees, child support, etc.

Some websites are saying that inmates that are paying what they owe should be fine and won’t be affected. But what about the inmates who don’t get any outside help whatsoever? What happens the few times that they just so happen to?

I agree that they shouldn’t be dodging their responsibilities. But they should be looking at this on a case-by-case basis. Our tax dollars are already going to pay for a prison system that’s designed to fail, lock up innocent prisoners, even executing them, overly sentencing them for nonviolent crimes, and giving a slap on the wrist to the people who are actual dangers to society. How does this bill make things better?

Oh, wait, they don’t care. They don’t care about reforming prisoners and keeping them out of prison. They want them to keep returning or keep them in there as long as possible. As for the ones who actually should be in there, usually not much happens because they have money.

What’s it going to take for things to change? Us! We have to stand up and hold our elected officials accountable. Once they come up for reelection, if they haven’t done their job, we vote for someone else. Politicians are our employees. Many of them don’t like to act like it, but it’s true.

Email, call them, whatever it is you have to do in order to get their attention. As I said, if they don’t follow through on their promises, vote them out!