By Abbott Koloff
North Jersefy.com
BERGEN COUNTY, NJ — Bergen County Jail inmates are improperly charged $10 a day for ankle bracelets with tracking devices when they participate in a work release program, according to a lawsuit filed in state Superior Court in Hackensack.
Ari Schochet, 41, of Hillside alleges that the fees are a hardship for inmates struggling to support families and working in low-paying jobs. In a lawsuit filed last month, his attorney is asking for the suit to be certified as a class action on behalf of “hundreds” of inmates.
The attorney, William Riback, wrote in court papers that Schochet was in jail in 2012 for failure to pay child support after losing a $500,000-a-year job in the financial industry. He no longer was able to pay the amount of support based on his old salary, Riback wrote.
Riback argued that for his client, and many others, the charge to lease an ankle bracelet cuts into already meager wages.
“The vast majority of persons in work release for child support arrears have minimum-wage jobs,” Riback wrote. “Therefore, after taxes, child support, and then the lease, these persons have no money to subside.”
Full story: Suit claims work release ankle bracelet fees are illegal