Jailed for $280: The Return of Debtors' Prisons

Jailed for $280: The Return of Debtors' Prisons

 

How did breast cancer survivor Lisa Lindsay end up behind bars? She didn't pay a medical bill -- one the Herrin, Ill., teaching assistant was told she didn't owe. "She got a $280 medical bill in error and was told she didn't have to pay it," The Associated Press reports. "But the bill was turned over to a collection agency, and eventually state troopers showed up at her home and took her to jail in handcuffs."
Although the U.S. abolished debtors' prisons in the 1830s, more than a third of U.S. states allow the police to haul people in who don't pay all manner of debts, from bills for health care services to credit card and auto loans. In parts of Illinois, debt collectors commonly use publicly funded courts, sheriff's deputies, and country jails to pressure people who owe even small amounts to pay up, according to the AP.
[Related: 5 Strategies to Pay Down Credit Card Debt]
Under the law, debtors aren't arrested for nonpayment, but rather for failing to respond to court hearings, pay legal fines, or otherwise showing "contempt of court" in connection with a creditor lawsuit. That loophole has lawmakers in the Illinois House of Representatives concerned enough to pass a bill in March that would make it illegal to send residents of the state to jail if they can't pay a debt. The measure awaits action in the senate.
"Creditors have been manipulating the court system to extract money from the unemployed, veterans, even seniors who rely solely on their benefits to get by each month," Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan said last month in a statement voicing support for the legislation. "Too many people have been thrown in jail simply because they're too poor to pay their debts. We cannot allow these illegal abuses to continue."
Debt collectors typically avoid filing suit against debtors, a representative with the Illinois Collectors Association tells the AP. "A consumer that has been arrested or jailed can't pay a debt. We want to work with consumers to resolve issues," he said.
Yet Illinois isn't the only state where residents get locked up for owing money. A 2010 report by the American Civil Liberties Union that focused on only five states -- Georgia, Louisiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Washington -- found that people were being jailed at "increasingly alarming rates" over legal debts. Cases ranged from a woman who was arrested four separate times for failing to pay $251 in fines and court costs related to a fourth-degree misdemeanor conviction, to a mentally ill juvenile jailed by a judge over a previous conviction for stealing school supplies.
According to the ACLU: "The sad truth is that debtors' prisons are flourishing today, more than two decades after the Supreme Court prohibited imprisoning those who are too poor to pay their legal debts. In this era of shrinking budgets, state and local governments have turned aggressively to using the threat and reality of imprisonment to squeeze revenue out of the poorest defendants who appear in their courts."
[Related: Spring Cleaning for Your Financial Records]
Some states also apply "poverty penalties," including late fees, payment plan fees, and interest when people are unable to pay all their debts at once, according to a report by the New York University's Brennan Center for Justice. Alabama charges a 30 percent collection fee, for instance, while Florida allows private debt collectors to add a 40 percent surcharge on the original debt. Some Florida counties also use so-called collection courts, where debtors can be jailed but have no right to a public defender.
"Many states are imposing new and often onerous 'user fees' on individuals with criminal convictions," the authors of the Brennan Center report wrote. "Yet far from being easy money, these fees impose severe -- and often hidden -- costs on communities, taxpayers, and indigent people convicted of crimes. They create new paths to prison for those unable to pay their debts and make it harder to find employment and housing as well to meet child-support obligations."
Such practices, heightened in recent years by the effects of the recession, amount to criminalizing poverty, say critics in urging federal authorities to intervene. "More people are unemployed, more people are struggling financially, and more creditors are trying to get their debt paid," Madigan told the AP

 

Patriot's Thoughts:

When big Corporations, and big banks owe money to the people they get bailed out by the American tax payer, and their children and their children will be paying for their greed and corruption for years to come! When me are you cannot afford to pay a bill the same corrupt politicians who bail their rich buddies out want to put us in jail! Do you get the picture now that the Government is not your friend and dosen't represent the American people but Corporate greed and corruption! A quote by Thomas Jefferson sums it all up.I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around will deprive the people of all property until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered. The issuing power should be taken from the banks and restored to the people, to whom it properly belongs. I believe that would be talking about the privately owned Federal Reserve Bank who is robbing us blind! We live in an America that has more people incarcerated than any other country in the World! Do you still think we are the land of the free!

Views: 62

Comment

You need to be a member of 12160 Social Network to add comments!

Join 12160 Social Network

"Destroying the New World Order"

TOP CONTENT THIS WEEK

THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING THE SITE!

mobile page

12160.info/m

12160 Administrators

 

Latest Activity

Doc Vega posted a blog post

Unusual Discoveries and Headlines

Archaeologists have discovered an ancient tool dated to be 6,000 years old, but even more…See More
2 hours ago
tjdavis posted a video

Inside Texas HOMELESS HELL – Even Cops Don't Dare Step In! - Documentary

In this powerful documentary, we explore the escalating Texas homeless crisis 2025, where cities and rural areas alike are witnessing a disturbing rise in th...
7 hours ago
tjdavis posted a photo
15 hours ago
John Miller replied to MAC's discussion BREAKING! UFO whistleblowers drop BOMBSHELL on D.C. | Redacted with Natali and Clayton Morris
"Crazy how these whistleblower stories are finally making it into bigger conversations. Makes you…"
yesterday
Burbia favorited tjdavis's blog post The Dems Love Their Demons
yesterday
John Miller commented on tjdavis's photo
Thumbnail

Comprehensive Coverage

"That car needs an exorcism, not an oil change."
yesterday
John Miller commented on tjdavis's blog post The Dems Love Their Demons
"If the Dems are dating demons, then that AI romance shoot was basically engagement photos."
yesterday
John Miller replied to cheeki kea's discussion Would-Be Trump Assassin Ryan Routh Gave Many Interviews with Mainstream Media
"Wouldn't be surprised if there's a whole lot more buried under the surface here."
yesterday
Less Prone favorited rlionhearted_3's photo
Saturday
Less Prone left a comment for John Miller
"Welcome John."
Saturday
Doc Vega posted a blog post

The Saga of Ape Canyon Revisited

 In the years that I’d written for the Plano Star Courier I got several invitations to go on…See More
Saturday
John Miller is now a member of 12160 Social Network
Saturday
Less Prone favorited tjdavis's photo
Saturday
tjdavis posted a photo
Saturday
Burbia posted a video

The lIIumlnatl Stallions: MethyIene Bluecifer & Mind-Control Horses [ FULL DOCUMENTARY ]

🐴🦄🐸 Get the NEW "lIIumlnatl Animal Coloring Book!" 🐴🦄🐸NOW AVAILABLE ON AMAZON - CLICK HERE: https://amzn.to/3SYgAkC🔑 Get MORE Access to the Secret Vid...
Saturday
Doc Vega commented on Doc Vega's blog post Memorial Weekend Getaway Horror Story
"Less Prone thanks for your support Buddy! "
Friday
Doc Vega replied to cheeki kea's discussion Would-Be Trump Assassin Ryan Routh Gave Many Interviews with Mainstream Media
"cheeki kea, I really appreciate the reporting of Sky News. I think they've done a great…"
Friday
Doc Vega posted a blog post

When

 Sad blue eyed poet rehearses his craftJust took a salvo in the compartment aftHis chances of…See More
Friday
cheeki kea replied to cheeki kea's discussion Would-Be Trump Assassin Ryan Routh Gave Many Interviews with Mainstream Media
"You're damn right there Doc V. but we may never know exactly where all the funding came from…"
Friday
cheeki kea commented on tjdavis's photo
Thumbnail

Me-Again

"Oh Look a new version of Megan, can't say the old version looked to flash either. Seems like…"
Friday

© 2025   Created by truth.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service

content and site copyright 12160.info 2007-2019 - all rights reserved. unless otherwise noted