In 2006 while I was attending a summer class at SUNY Brockport, I felt a sharp pain in my stomach. After going to the school's medical center, they determined that I needed to get to an emergency room, and I was quickly transported to laceName w:st="on">LakesidelaceName> laceType w:st="on">HospitallaceType>, where I spent the next five days being treated for an intestinal infection. I had very basic health insurance, which left me to foot a sizable portion of the bill. This scenario is not uncommon, I did not plan to be hospitalized but I am still financially responsible for paying the medical costs whether I have insurance or not.

            If I had decided to rob my teacher and the police apprehended me, I would have been taken to jail where I would be eligible for free medical treatment and when I finished my sentence I would owe nothing, regardless of my ability to pay. In short, it costs more to get sick than to commit a crime.

            More and more states are beginning to charge inmates for the time they spend in jail. This is not necessarily because they feel it is the right thing to do, it has much more to do with the fiscal reality governments are facing during the economic downturn. When a government faces the reality that taxpayers are not an infinite source of money whose taxes can be raised on a whim, they need to find alternate sources of revenue.

            The concept of charging inmates for their stay is hardly a new one, but in laceName w:st="on">New YorklaceName> laceType w:st="on">StatelaceType> the debate over whether to charge inmates for their time behind bars has been renewed because of recent legislation introduced by New York State Assemblyman James Tedisco, a Republican from Schenectady. Tedisco's bill is called the "Madoff Bill" in honor of professional swindler Bernard Madoff, who after bilking billions of dollars investor's money, is now a guest of the taxpayers.

            The "Madoff Bill" will not apply to Madoff if it ever becomes law, but maybe it will help recoup some of the taxpayer's dollars that are being wasted on inmates. The bill targets wealthy inmates and charges them based on their ability to pay.

            Opponents of charging inmates for prison time say that the money will be difficult to collect. I suppose hospital bills, back taxes, utility bills and student loans are just as difficult to collect, but nobody seems to be proposing that people stop attempting to get people to pay them.

            In that respect I think the only problem with the Tedisco bill is that it does not go far enough. It is not cruel or unusual to charge someone for services rendered. I also think the sliding scale should apply to fines, if a millionaire pays $1,000 fine for a DWI is that even a form of punishment? Hit a middle class person with $1,000 fine and they are going to feel the pain and it may serve as deterrent and save lives in the process.

            Sadly, I think the Tedisco bill is just another bill proposed to capitalize on the frustration of taxpayers. Nonetheless, the concept of charging inmates is not something that should just get caught up in an endless debate and never acted upon.