The Associated Press
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) -- The state has started collecting a 4-dollars monthly fee from the prison banking accounts of its 81-thousand inmates, whether they have any money or not.
The state expects to raise about 3-and-a-half-(m)-million dollars a year.
The Department of Corrections began collecting the fee Friday. It is drawing criticism from prison rights advocates and has sparked a suit by the Florida Justice Institute, a nonprofit Miami-based law firm that specializes in prison condition and civil rights cases.
Hannah Floyd, the wife of a death row inmate, and leader of the Florida Death Row Advocacy Group, said the new banking fee is unfair, because it penalizes families and charities which contribute to inmate banking accounts.
One critic said the fee is like charging a prisoner rent for a cell.