Intro to Corrections
Rachel May
03/17/14

1. What if your state imposed a fee-for-visitation-privilege on state inmates? Would that be a fair fee to add and what problems might result from imposing this fee?
If the state of North Carolina imposed a fee-for-visitation-privilege on state inmates, then it would have to vary depending on the inmate and facility. If an inmate comes from a low-income family, the fee should be proportional to their annual income and number of members being supported by that income. It is not fair to charge such a large sum, making it impossible for the family to afford visitation. There are two reasons for this; one being that the whole point of imposing a fee-for-visitation-privilege is to profit from it so to help pay for state inmates and their facilities, including all the accommodations that they have the right to, like treatment programs and religious programs. Another reason the fee should be proportional to an inmate’s family’s income is to make sure imposing such fee would not discriminate and punish low-income inmates even more so, while not affecting wealthy inmates. The fee should also be proportional to the quality of the facility. Although no prison is comfortable, there are differences between prison where high society people whom committed acts of fraud are held and high security places where criminals of a more high safety risk are kept. Fees should accommodate the needs of the facility rather than be an additional punishment to being convicted to begin with. It would only be fair fee to add if it was proportional to the inmate and facility. A major issue and complaint brought up is the amount of money that goes into running such facilities and supplying inmates with everything necessary within their rights. While it is not fair to make inmate pay for being in prison, because being in prison alone is already