Very weird that I am so old and have literally never heard this mentioned in a TV show or book or movie or anything.

In four out of five states, if you go to prison, you are literally paying for the time you spend there.

As you can guess, this results in crippling debt as soon as you’re released.

The county gets back a fraction of what they hold over your head the rest of your life until you commit suicide(or die naturally and peacefully with the sword of damocles hanging over your head).

$20-$80 a day according to Rutgers.

Counties apparently sue people and employ wage garnishment to get back the money that majority of people obviously cannot pay back.

https://www.rutgers.edu/news/states-unfairly-burdening-incarcerated-people-pay-stay-fees

  • elephantium@lemmy.world
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    6 months ago

    Okay? I don’t understand what point you might be trying to make with this statement, even if it were true.

    But the actual figure is 45% for drug offenses. That is the single biggest category, but I find it disingenuous to characterize “less than half” as “overwhelming majority”.

    • orrk@lemmy.world
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      6 months ago

      so, here is the fun bit about statistics, when you have more than say, 3-4 different options the thing with almost half generally is an overwhelming majority

      • elephantium@lemmy.world
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        6 months ago

        No, it’s incredibly misleading. When you said that, I expected to find something like 80% of prisoners are there because of drugs. Instead, I find that it’s less than half.

        • orrk@lemmy.world
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          6 months ago

          it’s not misleading at all? half is a REALLY large amount. like i get that this is an issue of humans not having math brains, but imagine if you will:

          a bag with 20 marbles, 10 blue, 3yellow, 2red, 2pink, 1green, 1black, and 1 clear.