March 29, 2007
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Minimum Wage
Convicted sex offenders are demanding they receive minimum wage. They all work at a state facility. They have served their sentence but are considered too dangerous to be released. So instead they work at Sand Ridge Secure Treatment Center. They work while they are receiving treatment.
They used to receive $6.50 an hour. But their wages were dropped to $2.00 an hour to cut cost. Their argument is that they are no longer inmates but patients so they deserve minimum wage. Here is the link: Link
Should the convicted sex offenders be paid minimum wage?
Comments (117)
yes.
of course.
do they get free room and board?
no way. fiiiiirssttttt
that happened in such an odd way.
i’ve never tried before. now that i’ve done it…. it’s quite anticlimactic.
Yeah. They’re still people, jeez. Are they expected to live off of $2/hour?…
hmm.. to be honest, i didn’t read the rest of the post. to give you a real answer,
yes, i think they should. they’ve served their sentence, and now they’re just getting help. they’re still people….
Yeah! Only $2?
Eh, I don’t know. They’re not prisoners… they’re people undergoing treatment. I have a hard time feeling any sympathy for sexual offenders, and I feel that even though they’ve served their time– most aren’t given enough time to begin with.
Nah, screw it. I think they get off far too easy by being treated for a ‘mental disability’ instead of having their penises hacked off. 2 dollars is more than enough.
I think that they should get a fair wage but that it should be used to pay for cable TV and other things that they have accesss to.
honestly, if murders and other criminals get minimum wage, how come they can’t? i think it’s moral discrimination! or i don’t know what the circumstances are, but should workers be paid equally for doing the same amount of work as others who do get paid minimum wage?
yes. i think thats only fair based on the circumstances.
I think the question of the cost of housing/feeding/treating the inmates is important. Are they paying for those services? If they aren’t, then really the ARE receiving minium wage, except their “bills” are taken directly out of their pay.
No matter how it is figured out, they deserve to be paid at least minimum wage.
Man, I am stupid, if I had read the article before I commented then my question would have been answered for me. But I was just in a hurry to post quickly, haha.
They DO receive “food, housing, and medicine.”
Well, I know most people who make minimum wage can hardly afford medical insurance, can they?
These guys should either start paying rent, or quit complaining about their low wages.
do they have the same living expenses as everyone else?
they served their time and once they serve their time they should be accorded equal wage rights…
The article makes it sound like they get free room and board so I think $2 is more than adequate.
The last two summers I worked at a camp where I earned less than that when you calculated out my paychecks. I did get room and board plus a few other benefits so it all worked out.
yes so that they can pay restitution to their victims and/or families.
Wow… once again another tough one. Yeah, they deserve it too. Although they did wrongly, and were punished… people make mistakes and get hooked in them. Give them minimum wage!
everyone deserves to be paid a living wage… and i believe these people are recieving just that considering that rent, utilities, food and medical (not to mention cable and such) all seem to be included in the cost of their resort stay…
I’m in concert with those believing they receive ample given they have free room/board & medical treatment.
Free room and board and 2/H, free from taxes? or is this even taxable wage since it is not under the whole minimum wage thing anyway…
Thats about 240 dollars a month in there pockets. (assuming they are working a full work week) With the Minimum 1040 dollars would be the amount the roughly received (before taxes)…something like 900 a month, Rent (generous rent) minus food-age, Medical. Well With that, some Minimum wage individuals do not have 240 dollars pocketed.
What the article does not mention is how much hours they are given to work, or they are required to work.
It probably is working part time, but we are left to assume it is more than enough.
What is not outlined are expenses that are not provided to an inmate.
Is cable provided?
Internet Access?
Service fee’s for these two services alone can exceed 100$
Since they are “under” treatment and no longer inmates, they do deserve some of the luxuries of modern society,
They are willing to work for the things they want,
As if you were living “an easy” life most would not complain if everything as needed was provided to you (taking a gullible naive stance).
Most of them could probably find jobs that pay more, if they were released.
And they are being held at there own will, I can understand the frustration.
I will state that there is a balance issue,
The problem is not just with the wage of 2/H
It is the system that has developed this.
So I will say they should be provided with an adequacy of living comparable to a low income salary, and salary is key.
They should also be charged rent and board, food etc. What they do with the rest of the money is there own choice.
Money for rent and board should be used in public programs, as they keep on saying they need more money.
So these individuals would be contributing to society in a meaningful way.
Prison and its facilities are to run to much like a bureaucracy.
That needs to change.
Some of these privileges of our society inmates are aloud to have.
Interesting. Their sentence is served, so I would have to say yes. But if they must remain for treatment, I wonder if they are required to work as well (perhaps if I read the article…). Such an issue could severely interfere with treatment.
TheTragicPost has interesting points.
nah. $2 is too much money as it is
Everyone should be paid a decent wage!!! (((Angel Hugs!)))
Whoops…I meant to write more…the reason they should be paid a decent wage is so they can pay the victimn’s families. They should be watched 24-7!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I get $6.50 an hour.
This is a hard one. They are technically American citizens again, with full rights, aren’t they?
But the fact that I am not a sex offender and make the same…
are they still considered a product of the state? meaning are they still in custody of any kind? if so, do they have the rights that they lost? good question. My self mode would say they should not recieve payment at all, but if some actually are recovered, then that becomes difficult…….all in all, we as a country are too easy on crime. That is why it is so easy to commit it. And why many are so easily able to recommit it.
Yes, they should. It’s only fair.
no. . .and if they do make minimun wage then they should have to pay for room and board. . .and pay who ever does their laundry ect. . .
where is the punishment here?
You need to find the right motivation. Just bribe them with porn.
Only if they get neutered.
Hell yeah.
Who cares if they’re sex offenders..
if anyone actually wants to discuss issues from a biblical perspective, you have my site………..there may not be an exact answer to all questions, but there is an answer to most……and it can lead to your answer if you have the question………
I am with the people who said they are recieving room, board, and medical. They should not complain. It would be completely different if they weren’t at this facility.
They’re all twonks.
Give sex offenders the death penalty and we wouldn’t have to worry about it at all.
If they can’t be released then they are still incarcerarated and still prisoners in my honest opinion. They get free room and board, health care, cable tv, and are living better than some who work for min wage and try to pay health care. I don’t feel sorry for them at all.
Um yeah.
They deserve their rights, even if they have been convicted of a crime.
Absolutely they should get min wage and with that said they should be paying 60% to the ones they hurt for life….yeah right they need treatment…how many get out and do it again…they should never get out in the first place its not a desease what they did , you cannot tell me they dont know right from wrong. Whos paying for the treatment of the victims which in most cases is they will never be the same for life.
I’m going to have to agree with the others that if they’re not paying for their own room and board, $2 an hour is pretty sufficient.
Sure. Then charge them for room and board and treatment.
i dont think they should
$2 can’t buy shit
certainly.
Yeah I don’t see a problem with that
As I know I read in other comments……who has paid for their room and board? Food? Healthcare? Clothing? Entertainment….sports and television? They should consider the difference in the pay a donation to the law abiding people of our country who paid to keep them alive while they were in prison for raping and molesting us and our children. Just my opinion. If they are not safe for the world and I am pretty sure will technically never be….then why would they need the money anyways?
If they are receiving room, board and medical, then they are already receiving more than the rest of us, so $2 seems fair.
If they want minimum wage, then send them bills for their treatment. From my experience with hospitals, it will probably cost them about $1,000 for every hour they’re in the facility.
o.o what do they spend the money on?
i mean like.. they’re kinda… stuck there. and they get food and rooms… so like… it’s not like they can go out and buy themselves a new pair of jeans…
sure, pay them minimum wage, but also make them pay for everything…no free room and board or food, etc!!
What about all the other people in the world who go to re-habs & treatment centers? They have to PAY for their treatment. So should these guys.
Once, my daughter asked why she didnt get an allowance at home for doing chores. I told her that the chores were her responsibilities as part of the family. She disagreed, so, as part of an experiment, we agreed on a dollar amount, and then I paid her… At the end of the week, I “charged” her for meals, laundry service, water, electricity, and entertainment. When she went to pay the bills, and didnt have enough money, her attitude changed- That was 5 years ago…She no longer asks for allowance, and does a lot more around the house to help out…
SO! I say…Sure…go ahead and pay them minimum wage…then deduct for room & board, medical treatments and all of their other benefits.
I bet that in the end, they are making more money at $2.00 an hour then they would if they had to pay their own bills.
I should also add that SEX OFFENDERS are not able to be rehabilitated… They LIKE what they do. They think its OK…. As taxpayers, WE are all paying for their “care” and will do so until they are dead.
Sex offenders suck, but they still are people who should have rights. Yes.
Of course ~ bringing sexy back costs money.
aj_mudd…
I work at a residential treatment center for Juvinile Sex Offenders. They can be rehabilitated, and a lot of them don’t like what they do. At one point, they took a survey, and all the teens here had been sexually abused themselves. Most of them were sexually abused as a child and when they do it to others, in some sick way, is validating what happend to them when they were young. It’s the same as alcoholics… a lot of alcoholics don’t like what they are doing and want to change, but they don’t know how.
When I see them, it makes me really sad, not angry.
I’d go no higher than three dollars due to inflation…pricks…
If they are no longer serving their sentence, yes.
At the university I see a number of released felons who have an almost impossible time finding sustainable employment because of their prison record. If they are going to change their ways and get on with life as contributing member of society, then they need to be able to obtain meaningful and adequate employment. Not to allow that is to hurt society at large in the long run because they will end up having nothing but crime to fall back on.
NO… They should PAY for the help they get, like anyone else does when getting therapy.
No. They most likely impeded on someone underage’s rights to make choices about their own sexuality and screwed them up for life – they should be screwed for life also. And treatment? Most sex offenders never get cured – so that most likely is not doing any good anyway.
I hate when people sympathize with sex offenders. It makes it difficult to experience a loving relationship with another person to it’s full extent. Your body becomes your enemy and sex feels dirty. May they burn in hell.
What do they need the $$ for? Where are they going? What are they trying to buy? What other “patients” do you know that get paid for keeping it together? I dont see Brittany Spears getting paid to go to rehab…..(well, she DOES get all that publicity, lol, but the point still stands, alcoholics dont get paid to NOT be alcoholics).
I think they should shut the hell complaining and focus on being rehabilitated so they can be released.
If they receive counseling from that program then I can understand them getting less than minimum wage (to cover the cost of the counselors) but if they are expected to live a life on 2.00 an hour, then that is just ridiculous.
I’m barely covering my costs on $7.00 an hour, $2.00 is just inhuman.
… yeah.
Their physical needs are taken care of so $2 and hour is enough. But if they want to be paid more, than require that they pay their own living expenses like the rest of us.
Only if they volunteer to have certain body parts removed.
Sure give them minimum wage, then charge them for food and housing. I think they will be lucky to have made $2 per hour then.
No they should get $20 an hour.
That is s fair price for digging your own grave
I save my pity for the victims.
I was thinking that it is sort of like a rapid dog. Poor thing, it wasn’t its fault it got rabies. Maybe it is not a sex offenders fault they were abused and turned into monsters. But kill them anyway and we have fewer monsters and fewer victims.
They should pay for their room and board and cost of running the facility out of their minimum wage. Then they should receive the remainder… or pay what isn’t covered… they made choices and put themselves in the positions they are in… it isn’t like someone forced them to rape a 12 year old…. they should pay the consequences. If that means $2 an hour, then they should be happy with it.
Are they being provided with room and board where they’re at? What expenses do they have? If they’re having to pay for their food an housing, sure, but if not…
As much as I dislike sex offenders, yes. I say this because I’d much rather have them working at this facility that working somewhere else.
Fuck that. If they wanted minimum wage that badly, they shouldn’t have raped the two-year old boy. They need to take what they get and be grateful for it.
If they’re being forced to work there, then yes. If they just can’t get a job someplace else and the governments just being nice, then no. And they should only be paid if they’re actually earning work.
Do other criminals end up with jobs like that?
wow people, just reading the comments here. Some sex offenders are capable of recovering, some of them even WANT and CARE about recovering. Yes what they do may be horrible but alot of them are victims too.
and if we’re going off of trunthepaige’s idea we should probably kill all the victims too because they’re probable for becoming offenders..
These guys should either start paying rent, or quit complaining about their low wages.
Posted 3/29/2007 1:30 AM by Belegost_the_Naugrim
Well said.
They’ve served their time. Let them get minimum wage, and deduct the cost of room/board/medical/taxes …. have them pay their own way.
I do not know…hmmm
yes 2 dollars an hour is VERY little… unless they get a free room and stuff.
Unfortunately, I’m going to have to side with the sex offenders. If I’m paying taxes to keep them alive and in treatment, then they better be able to pay taxes as well.
Pay them a minimum wage…but then deduct for room and board!
no way man! they should pay the consequences in full!
They served their time, they should at least get a fair wage.
Room, board and health care should not be free. Everyone has to work for a roof over their head and food in their mouth.
I am charged room and board, I make less money in exchange for housing and food. If I am penalized in a skilled job for piddly shit like that, then ex-cons can make the same sacrifice I do…
Maybe I should find another job? really soon…
Of course. They are still human. They’ve made some pretty huge mistakes but they paid their debt already
I agree with Twist2daRav3n. They’re jerks and for what they’ve done… I can’t forgive them.
wow people, just reading the comments here. Some sex offenders are capable of recovering, some of them even WANT and CARE about recovering. Yes what they do may be horrible but alot of them are victims too.
and if we’re going off of trunthepaige’s idea we should probably kill all the victims too because they’re probable for becoming offenders..
Posted 3/29/2007 9:49 AM by ArabianChar
No. No… I’m sorry. I’m not believing that those people are human. To attack some just for sex (and they kill their victims sometimes too) is monsterous and disgusting
I read the article, and it seems as though this facility is well within its rights to do this. If they cut their wage to help cut costs for the facility, it was probably so they can pay for things that these people needed. Remember, this is a treatment center that houses more than just sex offenders and those other people have a right to have the things that they need to be taken care of properly. This article never says if sex offenders were the only group that worked as part of their treatment; it just mentions that they are the ones who made the complaint. That being said, we can’t say if it’s ‘moral discrimination’ or not. I think that under the circumstances, getting paid to do work that’s part of your treatment is more than fair. The fact that they don’t pay for the housing, food, or medical expense should make the $2.00 dollars an hour alright. It’s not like they have to pay to be there. If they’re upset that $6.50 got taken away they should keep in mind that that was obviously a privelage. They could just as easily be there making nothing at all.
no it’s not like they can go out and spend it. hahhahahhaha idiot sex offenders. they should be grateful we don’t execute them.
Nope. They don’t even deserve the $2.
except for a way for inmates to get into trouble in some way, what are they going to do with themoney : /(maybe they should pay restitution to the victims?)
I think what’s more interesting to me is that they were getting $6.50 per hour while being inmates. I didn’t know inmates can earn an income. Do I have that right? They were making $6.50 while serving their sentences as inmates and only recently it dropped to $2 per hour now that they’re patients?
jenimm …
OK…I stand corrected- I should have said “MANY of them are not rehabilitatable…”
We are not talking about CHILDREN here though…These are ADULTS who are considered ”too dangerous to be released until they undergo treatment”… ( Robert Michael Fowler wrote in his complaint earlier this month. “I am being discriminated against because of the mental disability (sexual violent person) that the state says I have.” This is a statement made by a 42 year old MAN.) I think each case needs evaluating on an individual basis…
At what point do we decide that a person can get help or that they cant? I dont know that Ted Bundy, or Charles Manson, or Jeffrey Dahmer are able to be/could have been rehabbed.
I used to work at a juvenile facility , as did my sister…(she still does, but works with adults now). I commend u for your hard work. I couldnt do it. It made me sick. There were some kids there who were rehabbed, but the number was small. That is soooo sad.
Is alcoholism really the same thing? If so, then what u are saying is that it is a habbit that a person develops… * If a child was abused- does that mean that that person will be an abusive parent/person? NO…not always. Can they get help? Sometimes. Can they be rehabbed? Some of them… Using pain to validate their own pain does not give them free license to hurt someone else… (once again, I am referring to the ADULTS that the article dicusses.)
Sure, they should get minimum wage, as long as they’re going to be charged for rent, food, electricity, heat, hot water, garbage pickup, medical expenses, etc. If they don’t want to pay for those things, they don’t get the right to bitch about the $2 an hour gig.
Of course!
They are people living under the same laws as we are. The least they should be paid is minimum wage! Otherwise, isn’t it technically breaking the law?
Absolutely not! I don’t think any felon should get minimum wage. If they’ve served their time in prison, I don’t see why you would have to do that.
They’re working hard for the money.. I don’t see why they should be paid any less.. sure, what they did was wrong, but they’re no less of an employee as a result.. everyone deserves a second chance, no matter how bad of a thing they’ve done.
If they’re not allowed to leave the facility, though, I don’t see what they’re spending this money on…
Who is paying for their treatment, room, and board?
That’s what I thought.
That is really hard. Part of me wants to say, “That’s what you get for being a dirty sex offender!”. If I’m reading this correctly, they are still being held, in jail, for the crimes they commited. They are just undergoing therapy as well. So in that sense, they should take whatever payment the get and quit griping. And kudos to Wisconsin for a having a law that allows them to hold convicted felons with a likelihood to re-offend..and for actually doing so.
they shouldn’t get shit.
Hmmm, I think so.
But sometimes I feel like criminals should be put in an airtight room and the only way they can receive oxygen is by running on a treadmill or riding an exercise bike.
But that’s purely emotion.
i dont want to sympathize for sexual offenders, but they have done their time. I think it’s enough that we keep them away form schools and playgrounds. But to only let them earn 2$ an hour is stupid.
Yeah, the perverts already served their punishment.
absolutely!
…less the cost of housing, feeding, and guarding them…
so I guess they need to pay in some.
they should be dead >:]
I think they should but be brought to justice/ penalized in other ways
Execute them and bill their family for the cost of the bullet.
um yea pretty sure $2.00 is enough considering they have a room, heat, electricity and even food. Considering all of this it adds up to to take most of their work money anyways
Minimum wage is not a living wage, so even that is a pittance.
of course
There’s really a simple solution for this.
The state says the wage can be less than minimum wage is fair, because the inmates/patients receive free services.
Instead, the state should assign a value for each of the “free” services. Then, pay the minimum wage, but automatically withhold the price of the room and board, etc. So the patients will wind up getting paid about the same amount. But this way, everything would be visible. What was the wages earned? What was the price for the room? For the food? For the cable TV? For the treatment itself?
I wouldn’t be suprised if the fair market value for all the services the patients receive were actually worth MORE than what they would earn with a minimum wage! Let’s pay them minimum wage, and charge them for all their “free” services. Then, let’s watch and see how loudly they cry for the “good ol’ days” when they received $2 an hour and free services!
Aj_mudd,
You mentioned Ted Bundy (one of the most notorious serial killer in American history) in your comment. I heard the interview with Ted Bundy (conducted by Dr. James Dobson, of Focus on the Family) on the day before Ted Bundy was executed.
I believe Ted Bundy made a geniune conversion to Christianity. He told about how pornography shaped and molded who he became, and he warned America about how pronography can infiltrate even “good, stable” homes. In spite of all that Ted Bundy had done, the blood of Jesus is potent enough to forgive even his sin. I believe that I’ll see my brother Ted in heaven, right next to Moses and St. Paul and Mother Teresa and Billy Graham.
Even so, Ted Bundy went to his death willingly, not fighting it with multiple appeals and such. He believed that he was too far gone to be rehabilitated (if I recall correctly), and that letting himself die was the best thing he could do to bring at least a little peace to the families of his victims.
A copy of the interview (titled “Fatal Addiction”) is available at http://www.family.org.
most certainly. why the hell not?
no.
they have a place to stay . food. healthcare….why do they need paid?
Sure, but they should be charged for their room, meals, medical treatment, entertainment expenses, and anything else anyone else would be charged if they were going to a hospital for treatment. I have another idea. Send them to Iraq.
yes, they may have made mistakes but they still deserve to be treated like normal citzens since their time is up
Depends. Are they getting free room and meals? Free utilities? Free treatment? Then no, that should be taken out of their pay.
Yes. There’s a reason why it’s called a minimum wage. If there are exceptions to the minimum wage, then the minimum wage is no longer the minimum wage and therefore should not exist.