Freedom for sale

Freedom is not for everyone as we are lead to believe, but instead only a privilege for those who can afford it. To avoid a DUI charge (which in the state of TN, remains on your record permanently) I was offered the lesser charge of reckless-endangerment and in exchange, I have 250 hours of community service, a year of unsupervised probation, and to wear the SCRAM bracelet for a year.  I have no problem with this plea bargain except that the scram bracelet costs $100 to put on and $300 a month for as long as you wear it. So for a year that puts the total cost at $3700. As a country that hosts 5% of the worlds population but 25% of its prisoners, their is no wonder why the scram bracelet is alluring to court systems. It cuts down on the prison population while making the injustice system money instead of burdening the budget. After all, why budget the state when they can budget out-of-work class? After going to the city county building (knox county court) so many times, one begins to get a generalized picture of those who find themselves in front of a judge. In my experience with the division of criminal court I was in, more often than not it seems like most are hardworking people who have had a lapse of judgement, probably caused by the stresses of survival--the stresses of trying to simply exist while supporting the ones we love. I count myself very fortunate to have a family that is helping me pay for some of these costs, but for most people, an extra $300 a month simply isn't in the budget and could even keep food off the table. the makers of the scram bracelet list on their website that the typical length of wearing one of their units is 90-120 days yet Knox county routinely assigns sentences  of 12, 18, or even 24 months. I don't know what their true motive might be although, I'm sure we can all imagine what their pre-prepared politically correct statement might be, but from where I'm sitting it looks like they are just making money. Anyway, until next time...