Add It Up: Poor man’s probation
November 3, 2008 at 10:31 am by Mara Shalhoup in NewsNumber of for-profit probation companies in Georgia that make money off people who can’t afford their misdemeanor court fines: 39
Number of people fined for misdemeanors who became clients of for-profit probation companies as soon as a 2000 law paved the way for the companies: 25,000
Amount of money that a former state official accepted from a for-profit probation company after he “strongly encouraged” the legislation: $75,000
Months in prison the official received for accepting the bribe: 6
Year that the Georgia Legislature passed a law allowing for-profit probation companies to keep their records secret: 2006
Minimum monthly payments that the for-profit-probation lobby unsuccessfully sought from misdemeanor probationers during last year’s legislative session: $50
Minimum monthly payments that felony probationers pay: $23
Amount that an Americus high school student was fined for violating his learner’s permit: $155
Amount he ended up paying after making monthly payments to a for-profit probation company: $505
Source: Profiting from the Poor: A report on predatory probation companies in Georgia, by the Southern Center for Human Rights
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