{"id":183,"date":"2019-05-08T13:51:18","date_gmt":"2019-05-08T13:51:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.justtalk.blog\/?p=183"},"modified":"2019-05-08T14:02:30","modified_gmt":"2019-05-08T14:02:30","slug":"stealing-from-the-families-of-the-incarcerated","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/justtalk.blog\/index.php\/2019\/05\/08\/stealing-from-the-families-of-the-incarcerated\/","title":{"rendered":"Stealing from the Families of the Incarcerated"},"content":{"rendered":"

Who’s the Lawbreaker?\u00a0 State Laws vs. County Jail Accounts
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

On any given day there are hundreds of local families with loved ones caged in the Broome County jail. Talk to any of them and you quickly find out how costly it is to sustain the lives of those inside. \u00a0Want to call your neighbor locked up inside? \u00a0A recent call of less than 7 minutes to my local phone ran $11.00. Want to keep your young friend fed, when he, like others, tells you of the thin meals leaving him hungry all the time?\u00a0 You need to send in money so he can buy Ramen from the jail commissary. \u00a0Want your partner to have soap or shampoo? The incarcerated have to pay for it, one way or another.<\/p>\n

\"\"Dig a little deeper, and you find out one reason for all these cross-cutting costs:\u00a0 the corporation that profits from commissary deposits (Access Corrections) provides the food services (Trinity) and care packages (Access Securepak): it\u2019s a vertical monopoly.<\/p>\n

Try to bypass all this and mail in a bra, as permitted by state law? Forget that:\u00a0 it is returned to Amazon, rejected by jail authorities.<\/p>\n

Deposit money in your young Black friend’s jail account and you think he will then get to buy Ramen or shampoo?\u00a0 Don\u2019t count on it, for if this teenager was sent to solitary for an unknown reason (as is often related to be the case), and has a charge from years ago,\u00a0 that\u2019s a lingering $25 charge, for each solitary trip, even if the charges are years old.\u00a0 Puzzled by why so many incarcerated persons in the visiting room\u00a0 have unkempt, wild hair?\u00a0 Well, if your son needs a haircut and you have put money in his account, that\u2019s a $10 charge.\u00a0 He\u2019d rather forego the haircut and spend the $10 on food, stamps or soap. Want the clothes, wallet and cell phone your daughter came into jail with mailed back to you? That\u2019s a $20, $30, $40 charge. And so it goes.<\/p>\n

Deposit $50 or $100 in their jail account, and your friend or loved one may not see a penny of it.<\/em><\/p>\n

And hundreds of local residents linger for months and months in the jail, with 80% of them unconvicted. \u00a0Even if there are no fees or charges, many families don\u2019t have the money to support and stay in contact with their loved ones.\u00a0 This is a poor person\u2019s, a debtors\u2019 prison, particularly for Black and Latinx residents of the county.\u00a0 Most inside are trapped by high bails, coming as they do from Binghamton, with a poverty rate (33%) much higher than New York City (20%).<\/p>\n

Profiting from Hunger, Profiting from the Poor Incarcerated
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

But where does the money friends and family send in to jail accounts go?\u00a0 It is hundreds of thousands of dollars every year. How much is charged in fees, and who uses the money? We don\u2019t know. Some basic facts are emerging from documents gotten from Freedom of Information requests, leading to yet more questions about the jail\u2019s finances and the lack of local and state oversight.<\/p>\n

\"\"The State Commission of Corrections mandates that jail and prison commissaries must be organized to produce \u201ca modest return above costs.\u201d\u00a0 This doesn\u2019t seem to apply to the Broome County Jail. The prices the Sherriff pays for goods are hidden, but surely must be bulk rates from what little we can find out. Compare jail prices to similar food and hygiene purchases at the local Walmart\/Sams Club, where the profit rate is 2.1% on sales, and what does one find?<\/p>\n

The jail\u2019s profit ranges from 230% for a Bible to 560% for Ramen to 600% for a towel<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Item<\/strong><\/td>\nCommissary<\/strong><\/td>\nWalmart\/Sams Club<\/strong><\/td>\nJail \u00a0Profit<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Towel<\/td>\n5.95<\/td>\n1.01*<\/td>\n600 %<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Ramen<\/td>\n.95<\/td>\n.17<\/td>\n560 %<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Washcloth<\/td>\n1.00<\/td>\n.23*<\/td>\n430 %<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Decaf Coffee, 1 stick<\/td>\n\u00a0.50<\/td>\n.15<\/td>\n330 %<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Grape Jelly 1 oz<\/td>\n\u00a0.40<\/td>\n.13<\/td>\n307 %<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Kit Kat bar<\/td>\n1.70<\/td>\n.58<\/td>\n290 %<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Holy Koran<\/td>\n27.95<\/td>\n10.00<\/td>\n280 %<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Holy Bible<\/td>\n11.50<\/td>\n5.00<\/td>\n230 %<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Macaroni & Cheese<\/td>\n1.50<\/td>\n.80<\/td>\n187 %<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Playing cards<\/td>\n2.35<\/td>\n1.33<\/td>\n177 %<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 *actual county contract price (2017)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"And what was the\u201d modest profit\u201d produced? It’s hard to tell: we need more information on kick-backs from contracts and overall profits.\u00a0 But records obtained in response to a freedom of information act request on profits show disbursements from commissary of over $102,000, on sales of $318,000.<\/em><\/p>\n

If Sheriff Harder was Sam Walton, this $100,000+ would be reduced to less than $7,000.<\/em><\/p>\n

Has the Sheriff not read state laws and regulations?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Such vampire profits contravene state law. The State Commission of Corrections sets clear regulations for county jails, including the provision of hygiene items, accounts for the incarcerated, and the handling of commissary sales and profits.\u00a0 It is hard to see how Broome County follows them.<\/p>\n

Consider the following, starting with commissary regulation 9 CRR-NY 7016.1<\/a>.\u00a0 The state is clear, \u201cThe prices of any items offered for sale shall be set by the sheriff\u2026 and will provide a modest return above costs.\u201d So why are prices 2, 3, 4 times higher than costs, and profits so massively excessive?<\/p>\n

Where do the profits go?\u00a0 The state is clear here too: \u201cProfits resulting from commissary sales shall be\u2026 utilized only for purposes of prisoner welfare and rehabilitation<\/u>\u201d (emphasis added).\u00a0 That sounds good. But are they? Where did the profits from selling over $45,000 of cheap Ramen go? Were they spent on education materials?\u00a0 Job training? Books?<\/p>\n

It is hard to tell. But here are a few of the items that the Sheriff reported being spent from commissary funds last year, (taken from a Freedom of Information request):<\/p>\n

Three garden tractors\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 $ 9,357
\nIndigent hygiene, intro packs\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 $ 24,000
\nAgway lawn & garden supplies: \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 $ 2,238
\nFlares\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 $ 2,523
\nHaircuts\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 $ 1,800
\nCopier lease:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 $ 960
\nTires and parts for a trailer \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 $ 700<\/p>\n

Garden tractors and lawn supplies as meeting welfare needs of the incarcerated?\u00a0 There is no food garden, although one could be used.\u00a0 Flares to light the way to further rehabilitation? Copier leases provide for the incarcerateds’ welfare support, when persons inside already pay 25 to 50 cents per copy in the law library? And $24,000 for hygiene\/indigent packs given to people when they are processed into the jail? Is it possible? Has anyone read state regulations 9 CRR-NY 7005.6NY-CRR<\/a> and 9 CRR-NY 7005.4<\/a> that require the facility to provide \u00a0food, hygiene, and indigent haircuts at facility expense<\/em>?<\/p>\n

It gets worse.\u00a0 This year the jail withdrew from commissary, for reasons that local citizens and even legislators cannot discern, the ability to buy from the commissary clean underwear, bras, and thermal shirts (necessary in the underheated cells of the jail where the use of blankets is banned during the day)–and this even though the most recent commissary list provided by the county shows them on sale.<\/p>\n

Persons working in laundry confirm that underwear is old, stained by body fluids, and not adequately cleaned.\u00a0 Bras, laundry workers have stated, are so old, torn, and dirty that they are almost unrecognizable as they go through the wash.\u00a0 State regulation 9 CRR-NY 7005.7<\/a> clearly states that bras are permitted to be sent to women from outside vendors. But when even this was attempted from Amazon, an approved outside vendor, the jail refused delivery.<\/p>\n

These miserable situations have been reported to the county executive and local legislators to no avail.<\/p>\n

Who will enforce state rules and a common sense of decency for women and men in the jail?<\/em><\/p>\n

What happened to the County Auditor?<\/strong><\/p>\n

It isn\u2019t the county, which says it is fully aware of state regulations.\u00a0 State regulations require regular audits of the jail.\u00a0 And year after recent year the Broome County Department of Audit and Control, headed by Comptroller Alex J. McLaughlin and the Chairman of the Legislature, has dutifully fulfilled this responsibility to ascertain, in their own words, \u201cwhether commissary funds are being used and accounted for properly in accordance with State Corrections Law.\u201d The findings?\u00a0 \u201cBased on the results of our examination, it is our opinion that the Sheriff\u2019s Office is in compliance with State Law regarding the commissary fund.\u201d\u00a0 Is there something missing in the jail records and accounts that might sustain such a conclusion?<\/p>\n

Ask the County and the Attorney General <\/strong><\/p>\n

It is time to ask county and state authorities, including the New York State Office of the Attorney General which oversees jail operations, and the State Comptroller which oversees contracts, to investigate–and ensure the county and Sheriff follow state law, if not common standards of humane treatment for those suffering in the jail.\u00a0 There are too many anomalies, too many accounting irregularities.\u00a0 We need to know:<\/p>\n