PASCO COUNTY, Florida — The Southern Poverty Law Center considers constitutional the efforts of the Florida Department of Corrections (FDC) to collect more than half a million dollars from a Pasco County inmate.

The ABC Action News I-Team began investigating Florida’s “pay to stay” law in April. The law allows the state to charge inmates $50 per day for the duration of their prison sentence. Critics say it’s often permanent debt that only makes it harder for people to change their lives.

The I-Team revealed stories of inmates charged years after their release, judges applying the law in different ways, and the state prison system — accused of retaliation when it chose who to collect from.

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“There are 80,000 people in the Florida Department of Corrections. And the department chose to file these liens against a few hundred,” Southern Poverty Law Center Attorney Kelly Knapp told the I-Team.

The SPLC, a civil rights nonprofit, says there are models in which the FDC collects the $50-a-day fee to “pay to stay.”

“One of the trends is they are filing liens against people who have filed civil rights suits against them,” Knapp said.

People likeJason Baez.

“Mr. Baez filed a civil rights lawsuit because the officers beat him so severely that he lost an eye, and he settled that claim against the department, and after settling when he wanted transfer his funds to his family, the department filed a half-million dollar lien against him,” Knapp said.

Court records show the settlement was $60,000.

The FDC then filed a motion stating that the state is entitled to civil restitution of $547,850, or $50 per day for Baez’s 30-year sentence.

In a letter to the judge, opposing the motion, Baez wrote that “(five officers), on July 27, 2019, at the Santa Rosa Correctional Center… took me to the nurses’ station, fully restrained , handcuffed behind the back and deliberately chained. backed me up in front of (two) nurses and stabbed me in the eye with a walkie-talkie and took my right eye, making me completely blind.”

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Baez was sentenced to prison in 2006 for the second-degree murder of his roommate in Pasco County.

I-Team Series | Crisis in corrections

“That’s his punishment,” Knapp said. “It’s alarming that the state can come back whenever it wants, whether it’s ten, five, 10, 15 years later and arbitrarily, in a discriminatory way or in retaliation, add more to the situation.” this punishment.

When asked if there were things she thought the state Legislature could do to change or amend the law that allows this, Knapp said state lawmakers could end the cost of incarceration privilege law.

“They could put guardrails or some sort of instruction on who these privileges will be imposed on, so that’s not the case – so they’re not imposing in an arbitrary, discriminatory or retaliatory way. Right now, the Florida Department of Corrections, under the laws, has the discretion to prosecute whoever it wants, because there are no guardrails or guidelines for – who tells them who they should sue for these privileges,” Knapp told the I-Team.

The SPLC is asking the judge to reexamine Baez’s case and reconsider imposing the fine.

“We should all be concerned if we have people re-entering society who are set up to fail,” Knapp said.

The I-Team first contacted the Department of Corrections more than a month ago about Baez’s case and the SPLC’s allegations that the state is selectively filing civil liens to collect fines from $50 per day. The I-Team asked what prompts the prison system to file a lien against any current or former inmate. We have followed up several times and have not yet received a response.

We will keep you informed of the details of any bills regarding incarceration costs during the next legislative session.

This series of stories started with a piece of advice. If there is something you would like the I-Team to investigate, contact Kylie: