There is an old adage that crime doesn’t pay, which is mostly true in the long run if one is talking about criminals. But, if a recent lawsuit filed by inmates is correct, the fact that someone is imprisoned for a crime and working for their debt to society can pay — if one happens to be the bank that holds and fees the funds one earns while working off said debt.
The suit charges Chase Bank with “adding insult to injury,” by adding onerous fees to the pay cards that it provides to federal prisoners which hold the funds prisoners make while working for the state. The suit, filed by 32-year-old former prisoner Brett Sheib in Brooklyn district court says the fee structure is such that the cards handed to prisoners upon their release are functionally useless.
Here are the hard numbers:
120 | The number of hours of prison labor it would take to cash out a card at a bank on the day of a prisoner’s release.
30 | The number of hours of prison labor to pay the $5 ATM with the card.
~2 | The number of hours of prison labor it costs to carry a balance less than $20.
$1.50 | The monthly charge for using or not using a card assessed to inmates. That adds up to 10 hours of prison labor.
17 cents | The average pay inmates earn per hour working for the state, funds that are deposited onto cards.
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