The Federal Correctional Institution in Dublin, California, pictured on December 5, 2022
Nearly two years ago, The Washington Post’s Devlin Barrett published an article on the finances of people incarcerated in federal prison. The topline numbers detailed that approximately 129,000 people collectively held more than $100 million in their government-managed deposit accounts. But just 20 high-profile prisoners each held more than $100,000; taken together, those 20 accounts totaled more than $3 million.
The takeaway for readers pointed toward an interpretation, according to criminal justice reform advocates who spoke to the Prospect, that federally incarcerated people simply have too much money in their government-sponsored accounts. That money should be going toward paying court-ordered obligations such as child support, state restitution, additional fines and fees, etc.
The finances of those 20 individuals in particular became an emblematic example of the government being too soft on crime. The high-profile individuals included R. Kelly, former Olympic doctor Larry Nassar, and the Boston marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. Advocates who spoke to the Prospect described the Post’s characterization as misleading. Most people sent to prison are poor before they’re even incarcerated; a 2015 report from the Prison Policy Initiative found that the median annual income of incarcerated people prior to entering prison was just over $19,000 per year. And nobody gets rich while serving...
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