First Impressions, an online companion to the Michigan Law Review, has published an online symposium on "Pay-to-Stay Programs in Correctional Facilities."  I'd like to thank Michael Cedillos and Scott Wilcox, Executive Editors of First Impressions, for contacting my Today's Jails blog with this information:

  "...Approximately fifteen California jails have implemented pay-to-stay programs. These programs allow some offenders to pay a daily fee in order to serve their sentences in a city-run or privately-managed correctional facility rather than in a county jail. In some programs, benefits include assignment to a private cell with a regular door, separation from violent offenders, access to the jail’s movie collection, and the ability to carry an iPod or cell phone. The symposium contributors consider the implications of these pay-to-stay programs..."

The symposium contributors offer differing points of view on the implications of pay-to-stay programs and disparate treatment on the basis of financial means. Academics, judges, and practitioners give their opinions.  What's your opinion?