With all of the recent news on the Jaramillio case, I find the ability to "rent" your jail cell a prime example of what is wrong with the Criminal Justice system.
Jaramillio is going to find himself in a plush Fullerton City Jail cell with a VCR, a basketball court in the parking lot, microwaves, and visiting rights. Of course he will still have to fulfill the prison required chores and he still has to be counted as part of the jail population. But at 75$ per night, with his prison term paid in installments, Jaramillio will have it easy compared to the other inmates in the state prison system. If the DA is successful, and I hope he is, Jaramillio will not have access to a cell phone, computers, sexual contact while incarcerated, and pornography. A few less of life's "essentials" to make his eight months fly-by.
This isn't the first time a person has paid for plush prison settings. Actor Christin Slater paid for plush prison living when he had to serve jail time and in some municipalities inmates have to pay 5$ to 60$ dollars a day for each day of their prison sentence for "administrative cost." I have no problem with charging inmates for their time in incarceration, but I do have a problem with it when it creates a tied system for the privileged and the poor to serve out the same length of time.
