PAST DUE: PRISONERS PAY FEES

Illinois counties can now demand room and board costs from inmates who hold full-time jobs. The new law is aimed at the growing number of prisoners on work-release programs who serve sentences on the weekends.

Taxpayers are tired of the growing financial burden that prison systems are placing on states. This is a good way to recoup some of those costs from people who can pay.

A similar policy at the Cape Girardeau County jail has saved the county a good deal of money. It requires prisoners to pay $10 for each visit to the doctor's office. When the care was no longer free, demands for medical care dropped dramatically.

Criminals create considerable pain and suffering for victims. It is time America's justice system reinforced the notion that crime doesn't pay. Thanks to these new laws, prisoners may find that incarceration can cost them plenty.