From Truthout:
Robert Jackson was four days into a 120-day sentence in an Alameda County, California, jail when his wife passed away unexpectedly, leaving their three young children without a parent in the home. He was compassionately released with the caveat that he submit to electronic monitoring by the for-profit Leaders in Community Alternatives (LCA) company.
Though his weekly paycheck was $400-$500, his weekly monitoring fees to LCA came to $250 per week — 50-65 percent of his total income. He ultimately paid around $4,500 for 113 days of monitoring, while being repeatedly threatened with violation and jail if he didn’t pay — something that would have left his children without a parent and at the mercy of the state. Jackson was forced to sell his car and eventually had to give up his apartment — leaving him homeless — just so he could pay off LCA.
As a father reeling from the sudden loss of his wife, Jackson seemingly did everything within his power to protect and care for his children who had just had their mother unexpectedly ripped from their lives. All the while, he was pleading for mercy and relief from a multimillion-dollar electronic monitoring company wielding the power of the state without any interest in his or his family’s welfare. While this may sound like the plot of some dystopian novel, for Jackson and his children, this horror story was all too real. Continue reading >>>
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