SLAVERY STILL EXISTS IN THE USA, PROOF RIGHT HERE
A widespread practice in the US known as "pay to stay" charges jail inmates a daily fee while they are incarcerated. For those who are in and out of the local county or city lock-ups - particularly those struggling with addiction - that can lead to sky-high debts.
David Mahoney is $21,000 (£13,650) in debt. Not from credit cards. Not from school loans.
He's accumulated the massive tab because of the days he spent locked up in the local jail in Marion, Ohio, which is a small town with a major heroin epidemic.
Today, he's 14 months sober, and is a resident and employee of the Arnita Pittman Community Recovery Center, a sober living house on the northern edge of town. His counsellor says he is doing "awesome" and he hopes to one day to become an addiction counsellor himself.
But while Mahoney may have left his habits behind, he can't shake his debt.
He is not alone - the guy that lives down the hall from him at the sober living house owes nearly $22,000. Yet a third resident has them both beat at $35,000. Anecdotally (and confirmed by the Multi-County jail's administrator) they know of at least one other man in town who owes $50,000.
"I got collection people calling on it," says Brian Reed, the man with the $35,000 tab. "I just get hopeless."
Combined, five residents of the tiny Arnita Pittman Center represent over $100,000 worth of pay-to-stay debt. None of them believe they will ever be able to pay it off. Both Reed and Mahoney are still paying off their fines and restitution, not to mention school and medical bills. They're working on their other debts, but they don't see the point of putting money towards their pay-to-stay.
Today, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Ohio released the first comprehensive study looking specifically at pay-to-stay policies and how they are used in the state. At a press conference, the legal group called for the practice to be eradicated.
"Pay-to-stay jail fees devastate prisoners and their families," said Mike Brickner, the group's senior policy director, in a prepared statement.
https://archive.is/dN5Cr
http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-34705968