PASCO COUNTY, Fla. — The Southern Poverty Law Center is calling the Florida Department of Corrections' (FDC) efforts to collect more than half a million dollars from a prison inmate from Pasco County unconstitutional.
ABC Action News I-Team first began investigating Florida's "pay to stay" law in April. The law allows the state to charge inmates $50 a day for the length of their prison sentence. Critics argue that this is an often life-long debt that only makes it more difficult for people to turn their lives around.
The I-Team has exposed stories of inmates charged years beyond their release, judges applying the law in different ways, and the state's prison system — accused of retaliation when choosing who to collect from.
RELATED:
- Florida inmates charged for prison cells long after incarceration
- Judge calls out Florida prison system collection methods as retaliation
- State law charging inmates for prison cells being applied differently from county to county
- Florida lawmaker wants change in state law following I-Team reporting on $50-a-day prison fees
“There are 80,000 people in the Florida Department of Corrections. And the department has chosen to file these liens against a few hundred," Southern Poverty Law Center Attorney Kelly Knapp told the I-Team.
The SPLC, a nonprofit specializing in civil rights, says there are patterns in which the FDC collects the $50 a day "pay to stay" fees.
“One of the patterns is they file the liens against people who have filed civil rights lawsuits against them," Knapp said.
People likeJason Baez.
“Mr. Baez filed a civil rights lawsuit because officers beat him so severely that he lost an eye, and he settled that claim against the department, and after he settled when he wanted to transfer his funds to his family, the department filed a half a million-dollar lien against him," Knapp said.
Court records show that the settlement was $60,000.
The FDC then filed a motion stating that the state is entitled to civil restitution of $547,850 — $50 a day for Baez's 30-year sentence.
In a letter to the judge, objecting to the motion, Baez wrote that "(five officers) on July 27, 2019, at Santa Rosa Correctional... took me into the nurse's station fully restrained with handcuffs behind the back and in shackles deliberately back me in front of (two) female nurse and stabbed me in the eye with a walkie talkie radio & took my right eye causing me complete blindness."
Baez was sentenced to prison in 2006 for the second-degree murder of his roommate in Pasco County.
I-Team Series | Crisis in Corrections
“That's his punishment," Knapp said. “It's alarming that the state can come back whenever they want, whether it's ten, five, 10, 15 years later and just arbitrarily or in a discriminatory fashion or in a retaliatory fashion, add more to that punishment.”
When asked if there are things she thinks the state legislature could do to change or amend the law that allows this, Knapp said state lawmakers could end the cost of incarceration lien statute.
“They could put some guardrails or some sort of direction about who these liens will be imposed against, so it's not — so they're not imposing arbitrary or discriminatory or retaliatory manner. Right now, the Florida Department of Corrections, under the statutes, has the discretion to go after anybody they want, because there's no guardrails or there's no guidelines for — that directs them for who they should be going after for these liens," Knapp told the I-Team.
The SPLC is asking the judge to take another look at Baez's case and reconsider imposing the fine.
“We should all be concerned if we have people who are reentering into society who are set up to fail," Knapp said.
The I-Team first contacted the Department of Corrections more than a month ago about Baez's case and the SPLC's allegations that the state is selectively filing civil liens to collect the $50 a day fines. The I-Team asked what prompts the prison system to file a lien against any current or former inmate. We have followed up multiple times and have yet to hear back.
We will keep you updated with the details on any bill concerning incarceration costs in the next legislative session.
This series of stories started with a tip. If you have something you'd like the I-Team to investigate, contact Kylie:
“Six grand out of my pocket”
In August, we reported how a man bought two used Volvos from the same Hillsborough used car dealership and found both cars had non-functioning airbags and seatbelts. Now, I-Team investigator Adam Walser tracked the new owner and arranged for a mechanic to see if the safety equipment was properly repaired before it was resold.
