For those of you who do not know, folks in Arizona love their prisons. The Governor's chief of staff used to work as a private prison lobbyist. Last year the republicans tried to privatize death row. One of the things that people don't realize about SB1070 (the racist immigration law from last year) is that it was supported as much by the prison lobby as anyone...prisoners equals profits.
But yes, they have done it again...the prison/industrial complex has found a new way to get blood from the stone...a new way to profit from the involuntary incarceration of other human beings.
From the New York Times, They are instituting a 25$ fee for all visitors.
For the Arizona Department of Corrections, crime has finally started to pay.
New legislation allows the department to impose a $25 fee on adults who wish to visit inmates at any of the 15 prison complexes that house state prisoners. The one-time “background check fee” for visitors, believed to be the first of its kind in the nation, has angered prisoner advocacy groups and family members of inmates, who in many cases already shoulder the expense of traveling long distances to the remote areas where many prisons are located.
This is just so absolutely fucking wrong. I have nothing more to say.
Sun Sep 04, 2011 at 10:19 PM PT: My first reccomended diary. Why couldn't it have been one of my snarky ones instead of this? sigh.
For those who would like to help or donate, the American Friends Service Committee has been doing excellent work on prisons here in Arizona. A link to their Tucson offices is here. Thanks to Speak2me and Susan G for linking to this when I was on my Ipad.