Should we force offenders to pay for the costs of their punishments?

This local article, headlined “N.J. lawmakers want inmates to pay jail, monitoring costs,” prompts the question in this title of this post.  Here are some excerpts:

Some New Jersey lawmakers want convicted criminals to pay for their confinement or electronic monitoring. Two bills would pass the costs of state jails onto inmates and the expense of electronic monitoring devices onto sex offenders required to wear them.

A plan from State Sen. James Beach (D., Camden) would charge state prisoners for the cost of their incarceration, an average of $38,700 per year.  Beach said he had gotten the idea from within his district, where the Camden County Correctional Facility assesses a user fee of $5 per day for room and board and $10 per day for use of the infirmary.  The fees generate about $300,000 a year.

“There’s a misperception that everyone in jail is poor, and that’s just not true,” Beach said. “Why should we as taxpayers foot the bill for someone that did something wrong and end up in jail?” With the cost of incarceration approaching $40,000 per year, Beach said, “I think we should be able to do pretty good.”

A bill sponsored by State Sen. Joseph Pennacchio (R., Morris) and Senate Majority Leader Stephen Sweeney (D., Gloucester) would require those convicted sex offenders who must wear electronic monitoring devices to pay the costs of that equipment, or about $2,900 per year.  “It can be quite an expense for the state, an expense that, in my view, the state shouldn’t have to deal with,” Pennacchio said at a hearing on the measure.

About 209 sex offenders in New Jersey must be monitored.  They are generally those considered the highest threat to safety who can still be released from confinement.  Pennsylvania charges all people who require electronic monitoring, including sex offenders, for the cost, said Leo Dunn, a spokesman for the state’s parole board.

At least eight other states make sex offenders pay for monitoring devices, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.  There is also long-running movement among some county jails to charge inmates.  Pennsylvania does not do it statewide, but several counties do.

“It is popping up across the country,” said Rick Neimiller, director of administration and communications for the American Jail Association. “Especially now they’re looking at it, with the economy.”

Critics, however, said charging inmates would put a burden on both the prisoners and their families, who are often poor.  “It discourages people trying to put their lives back together,” said Elizabeth Alexander, director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s National Prison Project. People heading to prison often owe fines, restitution, and child support, and have little income while incarcerated, said Ed Martone, director of public education and policy for the New Jersey Association on Correction.