Insult to Injury

'Madoff' Bill Would Charge Rich for Jail

Wealthy convicts would have to pay for costs.

At $90 a day, it’s certainly not the Ritz, but the New York state legislature introduced a ‘Madoff’ bill on Monday that will require rich federal and state inmates to pay for the cost of their imprisonments. The bill would work with a sliding tab: inmates with more than $200,000 would have to foot the entire bill, while those with less than $40,000 would pay nothing. "Far too often, taxpayers are stuck with the bill for criminals who have extensive personal wealth waiting for them once they are discharged from our state's penal system," said assemblyman Jim Tedisco. New York spends about $1 billion per year on prisoners.