More than four years after a Superior Court judge ruled Bristol County Sheriff Thomas Hodgson’s $5-a-day inmate fee was unlawful, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has plucked the case out of Appellate Court in order to rule on its legality.
Hodgson said the decision of the SJC indicates the case’s importance and highlights the constitutional interest in its outcome.
“This is a rare move on the highest state court’s part and shows the significance of the case and the implications it could have in the commonwealth and the country,” Hodgson said.
Under Hodgson’s fee, inmates who didn’t pay their bills were not allowed to buy candy and other treats at the canteen, which put the focal point on inmates asking families to pay their fees in order to continue to purchase sweets. Hodgson said families were discouraged from paying any inmates fees so that, like people on the outside struggling to pay [...]

Original post by GateHouse Media, Inc.