National

Some Prisoners are Forced to Pay for Incarceration

Published

11 years ago

June 3, 2015

By Freddie Allen
NNPA Senior Washington Correspondent

WASHINGTON (NNPA) – More than 40 states allow prison and jails to charge inmates “pay to stay” fees, according to a report by the Brennan Center for Justice, a debt burden that reaps billions of dollars for state and local jurisdictions, and disproportionately affects Black inmates and ex-offenders.

The Justice Department’s report on Ferguson, Mo., policy department exposed the role that excessive court fees and fines imposed on the mostly Black residents there were used to bolster the small suburb’s revenue base.

The May 2015 report by the Brennan Center for Justice at the New York University School of Law, a nonpartisan legal policy institute, examined the arguments for and against imposing monetary penalties on prisoners and the lasting effects that those policies have on returning citizens and their communities.

According to the Brennan Center report, the mean annual costs to house inmates was nearly $30,000, but some states spent more than $40,000. Jurisdictions spend $80 billion every year in jails and prisons similar to the federal government’s budget for the Department of Education.

The report said that charging inmates fees predates the Civil War with Michigan passing the first correctional fee law in 1846.

The fees range from $10 to booking in some jurisdictions to $300 month for an electric monitoring system. Prisoners are often charged for police transport, case filing, felony surcharges, drug testing, and sex offender registration.

While some states charge inmates for medical fees and booking, others charge fees equivalent to room and board often referred to as “pay to stay” in an effort to transfer correctional costs to inmates.

Researchers found that small fees can quickly avalanche into thousands of dollars, burying ex-offenders and their families in more debt than they can ever repay. According to the report, the accumulated debt from an assortment of prison fees topped $50 billion.

Individuals can be charged “for police transport case filing, felony surcharges, electronic monitoring, drug testing, and sex offender registration,” the report said.

“A recent report by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities finds that corrections is currently the third-largest category of spending in most states, behind education and health care,” stated the Brennan Center report. “In fact, somewhat disconcertingly, 11 states spent more of their general funds on corrections than on higher education in 2013.”

Blacks are more than twice as likely to be arrested than Whites. One in three Black males born in 2001 will likely spend some time in prison, compared to 1 out of every 17 males. One in 19 Black women and about one in 111 White women will share that same fate. Sentences for Black men are almost 20 percent longer than sentences for White men convicted of similar crimes.

In the Center for Economic and Policy Research report titled “Ex‐offenders and the Labor Market,” researchers found that although Blacks account for about 13 percent of the United States population, they make up roughly 40 percent of prisoners. Whites accounted for more than 62 percent of prisoners in 1960 and now make up about 33 percent of the prison population. CEPR researchers also estimated that Black ex-offenders have a recidivism rate that is about 9 percent above the average and Whites return to prison at a rate that is about 9 percent below average.

The CEPR report also noted that incarceration can lead to a deterioration of valuable work skills, educational opportunities and social networks and that loss can hurt ex-offenders as they search for jobs, making it even harder for them to repay fees that they racked up while they sat in prison.

“Because a prison record or felony conviction greatly lowers ex-offenders’ prospects in the labor market, we estimate that this large population lowered the total male employment rate that year by 1.5 to 1.7 percentage points,” stated the CEPR report. “In GDP terms, these reductions in employment cost the U.S. economy between $57 and $65 billion in lost output.”

Lawmakers who favor the fees push the need to offset some of the costs associated with incarceration, yet some jurisdictions report that less than 10 percent of the fees are ever paid, and collection agencies, despite their claims, are no better at getting ex-offenders to pay up than the prisons and jails are.

The report also cites a 1994 Chicago Tribune article written by a law clerk for an Eighth Circuit judge that suggested that prisoners should pay rent to correctional facilities even though he doubted that they would be able to afford it.

“The irony is obvious here,” the report said. “While advocating for this bold new idea, the author admits its inherent unworkability.”

What’s also unworkable is the fact that prison practices continue to indirectly discourage inmates from seeking desperately need medical care often for chronic illnesses, because at least 35 states allow correctional facilities to charge inmates for medical care.

Opponents of the “pay to stay” prison fees say that charging inmates for medical treatment can be enough of a deterrent to make them think twice about seeking health care. As inmates cycle in and out prisons and back into their communities, the spread of communicable diseases can intensify affecting everyone that interacts with them including their families, friends and even correctional staff.

The Brennan Center report recommended that government officials reexamine collection practices that place excessive burdens on ex-offenders, set caps on criminal justice debt, and clearly define the parameters for assessing fees in the criminal justice system.

As violent crime falls to thirty-year lows, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are beginning to recognize that the socioeconomic costs of mass incarceration far outweigh its benefits and that those costs not only affect the Black community, but the economic security of the United States.

The report said that the explosion of mass incarceration has created a “staggering price tag” that is ultimately shared by all Americans.

“It is understandable that jails and prisons would look to offset costs for housing these individuals,” the report said. “However, it is unreasonable to require a population whose debt to society is already being paid by the sentences imposed, 80 percent of whom are indigent, to help foot the bill.”

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Oakland Post: Week of July 1 – 7, 2026

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of July 1 – 7, 2026

Published

5 days ago

July 5, 2026

Oakland Post

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NPRC Joins National Grand Jury Proceedings Seeking Accountability, Constitutional Restoration

Organizers state that testimony will explore historical and political developments that they believe have contributed to the expansion of corporate influence over public institutions and governmental decision-making. Participants are expected to discuss concerns regarding constitutional governance, individual liberties, property rights, and the protection of vulnerable populations, including seniors and persons with disabilities.

Published

2 weeks ago

June 26, 2026

Oakland Post

Photo by Billie Powers.

Special to The Post

The National Probate Reform Coalition (NPRC) has joined Toll and Roll and a growing coalition of advocacy organizations, victims, whistleblowers, and citizen groups in support of a nationally broadcast People’s Grand Jury proceeding scheduled for July 1 and July 7.

Organizers describe the event as a public forum designed to examine allegations of government abuse, judicial misconduct, legislative failures, and the erosion of constitutional protections affecting millions of Americans.

The proceedings will feature testimony from victims, families, advocates, and organizations from across the country who contend they have experienced harm through government actions, institutional neglect, and failures of oversight.

According to organizers, the People’s Grand Jury will focus on concerns involving probate courts, guardianships, conservatorships, child welfare systems, property rights, civil liberties, and what participants view as a growing disconnect between government institutions and the constitutional rights of the people they are sworn to serve.

NPRC is participating because many of the issues being examined mirror the concerns raised by advocates, victims, and families who have participated in its monthly town halls. For years, families have reported cases involving exploitation of elders, questionable guardianships, estate depletion, denial of due process, and a lack of meaningful oversight within probate court systems.

“This proceeding gives victims and advocates an opportunity to place their experiences on the public record,” said Tanya Dennis, lead facilitator of NPRC. “For too long, families have struggled to have their voices heard regarding elder abuse, probate exploitation, and government inaction. This forum allows those stories to be shared before a national audience.”

In keeping with principles of transparency and fairness, invitations have been extended to legislators, members of the judiciary, law enforcement representatives, and other public officials who may wish to respond to concerns raised during the proceedings or defend actions taken by their respective institutions.

One of the primary outcomes sought by organizers is public consideration and support for the People’s Remedy and Restoration Act, a proposed legislative framework that advocates believe would strengthen oversight, increase accountability, provide remedies for victims of governmental abuse, and restore constitutional protections.

The proceedings are expected to be broadcast nationally, providing citizens throughout the United States an opportunity to observe testimony, review evidence presented, and participate in an ongoing conversation regarding government accountability and the protection of individual rights.

Advocates hope the hearings will encourage meaningful dialogue, legislative reform, and renewed public engagement in the democratic process.

Individuals, organizations, public officials, and members of the media interested in attending or obtaining access information may contact the organizers at tollandroll2025@gmail.com.

As Americans continue to debate the future of constitutional governance, judicial accountability, and the protection of vulnerable citizens, the July proceedings are expected to serve as a significant forum for public testimony and civic engagement. For more information, go to https://tollandroll.com

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50 Years Later, ‘Wake Up Everybody!’ Still Resonates During Black Music

The words of the song, “Wake Up Everybody,” debuted by Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes in 1975, still resonate today as those words are just as relevant more than a half century later.

Published

2 weeks ago

June 26, 2026

Oakland Post

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By Hazel Trice Edney, Special to The Post

Hazel Trice Edney

“Wake up, everybody, No more sleepin’ in bed

No more backward thinkin’. Time for thinkin’ ahead

The world has changed so very much from what it used to be.

There is so much hatred, war, and poverty.

“The world won’t get no better If we just let it be.

Naw, naw, naw, naw, naw, naw, naw.

The world won’t get no better. We gotta change it, yeah– just you and me.”

The words of the song, “Wake Up Everybody,” debuted by Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes in 1975, still resonate today as those words are just as relevant more than a half century later.

In a rare, nearly somber moment, the group’s celebrated lead singer, Teddy Pendergrass, introduced the song on Soul Train, the weekly dance and live performance TV show that aired roughly between 1971 and 2006. Pendergrass told the attentive live audience and thousands watching by television that Wake Up Everybody, the title tune of their most recent album, was intended to inspire people to take action with a goal to change America for the better.

“I’m sure that you will all agree that there are things that need to be done in this country today,” he said. “So, what I’d like for you to do is listen very carefully to see what you can do to lend a hand.”

The song’s appeal worked.

“I played that song over and over and over again because it was a constant warning to keep ourselves prepared for the society that we were living in,” says A. Peter Bailey, then a 37-year-old former aide to Malcolm X.

When “Wake Up Everybody” hit the airwaves, Bailey was working as an associate editor of Ebony Magazine. “It was a call to be aware of what we were dealing with in the country that we lived in, the world we lived in, the neighborhood we lived in, the cities that we lived in,” Bailey said in an interview with the Trice Edney News Wire.

He concluded that during Black Music Month 2026, such songs should be recalled and celebrated as a key to changes for the good across America; especially because such songs successfully encouraged people to deal with the issues that might otherwise denigrate the promises of America, including the promise that “All men are created equal,”as stated in the Declaration of Independence.

“The rhythms and blues expressed our joys, our sorrows and our fears,” Bailey recalls. “It was those songs and the singing of those songs by our people that attracted us to the campaigns for justice.”

With his life inspired by that song and others, Bailey, now 88, went on to establish and teach a Black Press class at Virginia Commonwealth University. Also, he has since written three books, including a memoir, “Witnessing Brother Malcolm X, the Master Teacher,” in which he expounded upon successful principles of social justice, some of which are reflected in “Wake Up Everybody.”

Long before the term “woke” became associated with campaigns for justice, Pendergrass led the song that reverberated across America and still holds deep meaning.

The ‘wake up’ call exhorts teachers to ‘teach a new way,’ doctors to heal elders, and builders to ‘build a new land… we can do it if we all lend a hand.”

The song concludes:

“The world won’t get no better if we just let it be. Naw, naw, naw, naw, naw, naw, naw. The world won’t get no better. We gotta change it, yeah – just you and me.”

Hazel Trice Edney wrote this story as part of a four-part series powered by AARP in commemoration of Black Music Month, June 2026.