Luxury prisons – rent your cell

I was quite titillated by an IHT article last week (April 30) entitled “For $82 a day, a cozier way to do hard time.” This article opened my eyes to the concept of how wealthier prisoners in certain California prisons (ex Santa Ana) are able and allowed to pay a daily fee to have an upgraded cell (double occupancy). The charges apparently range from $75 up to $127/day. While I truly applaud the notion that prisoners who–otherwise live their life behind bars paid for by the taxpayer–are paying their own rent, it does seem difficult to gauge how many privileges one should allow. For example, why not allow single occupancy room, with internet and cell phone for $300/day… or more? Where does it stop and at what price?