Yes it is. I clocked this immediately because of the amount of cop shows I've watched on US television. You technically have a right to a free lawyer when arrested, but they usually are so overworked and underpaid they'll just make you take a plea deal so your charged offense is slightly lower. SO yeah, you are basically guaranteed to get jail time if you are poor, which makes employment harder, so you will commit crimes again and go back to jail, and you can't provide for your children if you have them, so they will get stuck in the same place. And most prisons are for profit prisons, which are allowed to practice slavery. Most cops will "let you off with a warning" if you bribe them, as long as your skin is the right tone.