Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Bans on Smoking in Prison Shrink a Coveted Market
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL ^ | Wednesday, August 27, 2003 | VANESSA O'CONNELL

Posted on 08/27/2003 7:03:29 AM PDT by presidio9

Edited on 04/22/2004 11:49:44 PM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]

RIKERS ISLAND, N.Y. -- For years, inmates trekked to the commissary, off a dingy hallway here in this huge New York City jail complex, to buy cigarettes. Tobacco companies also furnished them with free T-shirts and socks emblazoned with the Kool and Newport logos. Cigarette makers gave the jail sports equipment, board games and, for a time, cash awards that funded antiviolence videos and inmate holiday parties.


(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Front Page News; News/Current Events; US: New York
KEYWORDS: pufflist
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-6061-78 next last
A sampling of tobacco-price markups within five large prison systems:

PRISON NUMBER OF TOBACCO SYSTEM INMATES MARKUP Federal 163,528 40% California 162,317 61 Florida 75,210 60 Georgia 47,445 29 Illinois 42,693 10

Sources: U.S. Department of Justice; WSJ research

1 posted on 08/27/2003 7:03:30 AM PDT by presidio9
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: presidio9
You think that's bad, you should see what prisoners get charged for phone calls. Markups are in the 2000% range.
2 posted on 08/27/2003 7:08:02 AM PDT by thoughtomator (Welcome to the Iraq Roach Motel - Islamofascists check in, but they don't check out!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: thoughtomator
Cry me a river. Don't break the law.


3 posted on 08/27/2003 7:09:02 AM PDT by presidio9 (Run Al Run!!!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: presidio9
Yeah well, when that also applies to calls to their lawyers, and taking into account that a lot of the people we're talking about have only been charged and haven't been convicted (and are therefore innocent in the eyes of the law), we are talking due-process violation.

Not like you ever had a use for the Constitution other than toilet paper, but the rest of us happen to like seeing the nation follow the law.
4 posted on 08/27/2003 7:13:00 AM PDT by thoughtomator (Welcome to the Iraq Roach Motel - Islamofascists check in, but they don't check out!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: thoughtomator
You think that's bad, you should see what prisoners get charged for phone calls. Markups are in the 2000% range.

Ok. Take that off what they are getting in free room and board and entertainment and internet access and they still owe us.

5 posted on 08/27/2003 7:13:30 AM PDT by cinFLA
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: cinFLA
I don't suppose "innocent before proven guilty" is part of your lexicon... no, knowing your M.O., the converse is more likely to be your belief.

Not everyone in prison has been convicted of a crime.
6 posted on 08/27/2003 7:14:54 AM PDT by thoughtomator (Welcome to the Iraq Roach Motel - Islamofascists check in, but they don't check out!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: thoughtomator
Awwwww: Are expensive phone calls a violation of your Constitutional Right to illegal drugs? TS!
7 posted on 08/27/2003 7:17:31 AM PDT by presidio9 (Run Al Run!!!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: presidio9
Let inmates buy all the Camels and Krispy Kremes they want. This way they'll die faster and save the taxpayer money.
8 posted on 08/27/2003 7:19:37 AM PDT by Liberal Classic (Quemadmodum gladius neminem occidit, occidentis telum est.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: thoughtomator
I think you are confusing jail with prison unless you are prepared to show us the percentage of prison inmates that were never convicted of a crime.
9 posted on 08/27/2003 7:19:48 AM PDT by AppyPappy (If You're Not A Part Of The Solution, There's Good Money To Be Made In Prolonging The Problem.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: presidio9
What does one have to do with the other? You are hallucinating more WoD fascism (small surprise).

God willing, one day you will be arrested for a crime you didn't commit, and your attitude towards criminal justice will be remarkably transformed.
10 posted on 08/27/2003 7:22:31 AM PDT by thoughtomator (Welcome to the Iraq Roach Motel - Islamofascists check in, but they don't check out!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: AppyPappy
The author of the article is too. Rikers is mostly a jail, not a prison.
11 posted on 08/27/2003 7:23:18 AM PDT by presidio9 (Run Al Run!!!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: thoughtomator
God willing, one day you will be arrested for a crime you didn't commit, and your attitude towards criminal justice will be remarkably transformed.

Suprise suprise: I once WAS arrested for a crime I did not commit. I dealt with the brief inconvenience and got on with my life. Anarchy does not solve society's problems my friend.

12 posted on 08/27/2003 7:24:56 AM PDT by presidio9 (Run Al Run!!!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: AppyPappy
I'm using the terms as synonyms. If it's 'jail' you prefer, then I will say 'jail'. In jail, you are charged up to and sometimes exceeding 2000% of commercial rates to make phone calls, even to your lawyer. This is for people who haven't been tried.
13 posted on 08/27/2003 7:25:31 AM PDT by thoughtomator (Welcome to the Iraq Roach Motel - Islamofascists check in, but they don't check out!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: presidio9
Really? What crime were you arrested for? Did you actually need a lawyer? If so, do you remember how much that phone call cost you?
14 posted on 08/27/2003 7:27:35 AM PDT by thoughtomator (Welcome to the Iraq Roach Motel - Islamofascists check in, but they don't check out!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies]

To: thoughtomator
Not in NC. Local calls are free. But I'll tell you what. I'll support free calls to lawyers but they pay dearly for everything else. After all, they are spongeing off the taxpayers.
15 posted on 08/27/2003 7:28:01 AM PDT by AppyPappy (If You're Not A Part Of The Solution, There's Good Money To Be Made In Prolonging The Problem.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 13 | View Replies]

To: thoughtomator
I don't suppose "innocent before proven guilty" is part of your lexicon... no, knowing your M.O., the converse is more likely to be your belief. Not everyone in prison has been convicted of a crime.

OK. Don't charge those that have not been convicted for their room and board. Works for me.

16 posted on 08/27/2003 7:29:44 AM PDT by cinFLA
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: thoughtomator
Markups are in the 2000% range.

Provide evidence for your claim.

17 posted on 08/27/2003 7:30:49 AM PDT by cinFLA
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: thoughtomator
Irrelevant. Expensive phone calls do not violate Constitutional Rights. As a matter of fact, the Constitution makes no mention of phones whatsoever. I was able to confer with a lawyer in due time.
18 posted on 08/27/2003 7:32:43 AM PDT by presidio9 (Run Al Run!!!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

To: presidio9
Hell, I sat next to one in the lockup!
19 posted on 08/27/2003 7:33:58 AM PDT by AppyPappy (If You're Not A Part Of The Solution, There's Good Money To Be Made In Prolonging The Problem.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 18 | View Replies]

To: cinFLA
I work in a law office. Calls start at $5.14/minute.

You want to verify it, call any lawyer that deals in any aspect of criminal law and ask them, you have a phone book.
20 posted on 08/27/2003 7:34:14 AM PDT by thoughtomator (Welcome to the Iraq Roach Motel - Islamofascists check in, but they don't check out!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 17 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-6061-78 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson