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| Mass. Prison Fee Creates Caste System, Lawyers Say |
| By The Standard-Times |
| Published: 03/03/2003 |
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Bristol County Sheriff Thomas M. Hodgson's $5-a-day 'cost-of-care fee' has created a caste system. There are a few prisoners who have money in their canteens to pay the fee. Yet the majority of prisoners don't have any money, according to lawyers who are suing the sheriff. The fees restrict prisoners from hiring lawyers, making bail and paying court-ordered fines, fees and restitution, said James R. Pingeon, a lawyer with Massachusetts Correctional Legal Services in Boston. The firm has brought a class action suit on behalf of nine prisoners. The federal lawsuit challenges the legality of all the fees instituted by the sheriff -- medical and health services, haircuts, GED and the $5-a-day charge. Lawyers for the prisoners will ask U.S. District Court Judge Robert E. Keeton to throw out the fees and reimburse the prisoners, plus interest and attorney fees, when the parties appear in court Aug. 6. The judge is scheduled to rule on the matter, or possibly refer the case back to state court, where it originated. The most controversial of the fees is the 'cost-of-care' charge, instituted by the sheriff in July of last year to help with operational costs. The fee is assessed against indigent and non-indigent inmates and those being held while they await trial. The suit contends the sheriffs taps prisoners' Social Security and veterans' benefits and disability insurance, which they say is prohibited by federal law. The suit, filed in August 2002, also argues the fees were never authorized by the state Commissioner of Corrections. Mr. Pingeon said family members now see no point to sending a loved one money because they know the sheriff will take it to cover his administrative fee. Prisoners at the Bristol County House of Correction, Dartmouth, and the Ash Street Jail, New Bedford, use the money to make purchases from the prison commissary. 'Most prisoners don't have access to their prisoner canteens. A few people do, so there's a lot of resentment and tension. There's haves and have-nots and cheating of the system,' he said. The plaintiffs allege the tense conditions have caused prisoners to refuse to work, participate in hunger strikes, flood their cells and throw feces, and the sheriff has been forced to lock down portions of both facilities. They also allege that many prisoners neglect their medical needs because of the co-pay fees. Mr. Hodgson dismisses many of the allegations. 'They are grasping at straws for an argument that isn't going to fly,' he said. 'This group throws around emotionalism and scare tactics.' |
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