52: The Prisons You Pay For

Rebuttal

Rebmasel

True Crime

4.9 • 1.4K Ratings

🗓️ 13 November 2025

⏱️ 55 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

(WATCH THIS EPISODE ON YOUTUBE) The State of Connecticut charged Teresa Beatty $249 per day, every day, while she was in prison for a minor drug offense from 2000 to 2002—But she wouldn't discover this until 20 years later. When her mother died in 2020, the State of Connecticut filed a notice in probate court demanding approximately 35%—over $83,000—of Beatty’s inheritance. And it was perfectly legal. In fact, at least 45 states in America force you to pay (literally) for the privilege of being imprisoned in a country with one of the highest incarceration rates in the world... This is Beatty v. Lamont (2022), State v. Richey (2019), and "Pay-To-Stay" laws. Links Captive Money Lab: "Pay-to-stay laws keep a person incarcerated long after their prison term ends." Pay To Stay June 2025 Report, Campaign Zero Research & Policy Brief: "This report takes an in-depth look at pay-to-stay fee policies and practices of charging adults and youths held in jails, prisons, and youth residential facilities for the costs of their incarceration, including medical fees and expenses for room & board." The "Damaged" State v. the "Willful" Nonpayer: Pay-to-Stay and the Social Construction of Damage, Harm, and Moral Responsibility in a Rent-Seeking Society (2022) (Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences) *** REBUTTAL POD MERCH IS LIVE!: ⁠⁠https://rebmasel.shop/⁠ *** ⁠⁠CLICK HERE⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to PREORDER Reb's book: The Book They Throw At You—A Sarcastic Lawyer's Guide* To The Unholy Chaos of Our Legal System, *God No, Not Actual Legal Advice *** Follow @RebuttalPod on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠! Follow @Rebmasel on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠! *** 0:00 - Intro 00:10 - CASES BEGIN 10:10 - What is "Pay-to-Stay"? 18:16 - States say it teaches WHAT?! 19:22 - DOES THIS EVEN HELP "TAXPAYERS"? 24:19 - SPOILER: For-profit prisons is a bad idea 28:51 - Who shoulders this burden? Black, Hispanic, the poor 33:46 - PRISONS: DELIBERATE POVERTY AND FORCED LABOR 37:41 - Incarcerated people are forced to work 42:18 - Unsafe work conditions 43:20 - The South = Highest rate in entire world 44:17 - THESE NUMBERS ARE INSANE. 45:00 - Prison Banking 46:45 - Recent accounts from incarcerated people from Oct 2025 49:48 - Captive Money Lab Research: THE IMPACTS OF PAY-TO-STAY LAWS!!! 52:13 - Reb's Rebuttal Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello everyone and welcome back to the rebuttal podcast where we break down case law comedy and chaos in the legal field.
0:06.3	Today's episode is about pay to stay. It's a common saying. You do the crime, you do the time. In a democratic
0:14.0	society, you atone for your mistakes by serving time in prison for certain offenses. Most people in America grew up believing that going
0:23.0	to prison itself wasn't a death sentence, that it wouldn't necessarily ruin your entire life,
0:30.0	if only for your own behavior and actions, right? The state forces you to atone for your misgivings, for your mistakes, but after that, you are
0:41.9	able to rebuild your life. What if I told you that the United States ensures, no, almost
0:49.3	guarantees that you cannot. When Teresa Bede's mother died in 2020, the state of Connecticut filed a
0:55.5	notice in probate court demanding approximately 35% over $83,000 of BD's inheritance. From 2000 until
1:04.7	2002, Teresa Beattie was incarcerated for a minor drug offense in the state of Connecticut. 20 years later, the state wanted reimbursement for Beatty's room and board under its prison
1:16.0	debt law.
1:16.9	While $83,762 will not make or break the state of Connecticut's multibillion dollar budget,
1:25.3	the loss will be devastating to Ms. Beatty, she said in a lawsuit
1:29.7	that she filed back in 2022. But Ms. Beatty is not alone in being held financially liable
1:36.1	for the costs of incarceration. Forty-five states out of 50 have pay-to-stay, quote-unquote,
1:43.3	statutes. Today, as you listen to this episode there are almost
1:46.5	two million people locked away in one of the more than 5,000 prisons or jails that dot the
1:51.4	American landscape while they are behind bars these incarcerated people can be found standing in
1:56.1	line at their prison's commissary waiting to buy some extra food or cleaning supplies that are
2:00.2	often marked up to
2:01.1	prices higher than one would pay outside of those prison walls. Many incarcerated people rely on
2:06.3	electronic tablets to email a friend or family member, take an online class, or listen to music
2:11.1	downloaded on the device. They will pay for these services and often even the device. And almost
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