Washington, April 30:

Paying your dues to society takes on a whole new meaning in California. For $171 a day, prisoners can get cell upgrades that offer access to iPods, laptops, mobiles, better food and, the biggest selling point of all, isolation from violent inmates. One police department makes this fear of sexual predators its main sales pitch, “Bad things happen to good people.”

In the pay-to-stay scheme, the cells are bare but cleaner than the communal ones and inmates are allowed to take in personal possessions denied non-paying prisoners. Payments have to be made in advance for short stays but those serving longer sentences can pay in instalments.

The offer is available only to those facing what the justice system classifies as minor offences, such as drink driving. Violent offenders are automatically ruled out.

The cost of upgrades varies from county to county: ranging from $70 a day - though there is an initial $100 application fee - in Seal Beach to $171 a day in Torrance.

Details of the scheme on the Torrance police department website are not dissimilar from many hotel brochures, with details ranging parking facilities to check-out times. “We compute sentences on a 24-hour basis. If you have three days to serve, check-in would be 8:30 am Monday, check-out 8:30 am Thursday.”

Applications to take part in the scheme can be made online. Unlike hotel guests, inmates are required by law to work a minimum of four hours a day.