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The Return Of Debtor’s Prisons: Thousands Of Americans Jailed For Not Paying Their Bi

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balddemon

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http://thinkprogress.org/justice/20...-americans-jailed-for-not-paying-their-bills/

Federal imprisonment for unpaid debt has been illegal in the U.S. since 1833. It’s a practice people associate more with the age of Dickens than modern-day America. But as more Americans struggle to pay their bills in the wake of the recession, collection agencies are using harsher methods to get their money, ushering in the return of debtor’s prisons.
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Take, for example, what happened to Robin Sanders in Illinois. She was driving home when an officer pulled her over for having a loud muffler. But instead of sending her off with a warning, the officer arrested Sanders, and she was taken right to jail.

“That’s when I found out [that] I had a warrant for failure to appear in Macoupin County. And I didn’t know what it was about.” Sanders owed $730 on a medical bill. She says she didn’t even know a collection agency had filed a lawsuit against her. [...]
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Sean Matthews, a homeless New Orleans construction worker, was incarcerated for five months for $498 of legal debt, while his jail time cost the city six times that much. Some debtors are even forced to pay for their jail time themselves, adding to their financial troubles.

Stories of surprise arrests for unpaid debt have been reported in states including Indiana, Tennessee and Washington. In Kansas City, one man ended up in jail after missing only a furniture payment. The Federal Trade Commission received more than 140,000 complaints related to debt collection in 2010, and they’ve taken 10 debt collection agencies to court for their practices in the past three years.
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Since the start of 2010, judges have signed off on more than 5,000 arrest warrants since in nine counties alone.
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I didn't even know this was illegal, let alone jailable.Definitely sucks though. What do collection agencies get out of suing someone for missing a furniure payment, which is probably less than $100?

edit: lmfao @ title, didn't realize the word "Bills" was cut off...
 
The Federal Trade Commission received more than 140,000 complaints related to debt collection in 2010, and they’ve taken 10 debt collection agencies to court for their practices in the past three years.
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My reading comprehension is failing. In the bold portion, who is "they?" The FTC? So the FTC is taking debt collection agencies to court for potentially illegal practices? Someone explain, I'm clearly not grasping this. If what I'm thinking it means is true, it seems people (the FTC?) are fighting against this bullshit.
 
Soka said:
My reading comprehension is failing. In the bold portion, who is "they?" The FTC? So the FTC is taking debt collection agencies to court for potentially illegal practices? Someone explain, I'm clearly not grasping this. If what I'm thinking it means is true, it seems people (the FTC?) are fighting against this bullshit.
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Yes.
 
*sigh* Just showed this to a friend. Her reaction:
"So they're overreacting, but the idea itself isn't flawed. And hey, now the homeless person has somewhere to live :P"
 
Zoe said:
Yes.
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Awesome, the FTC is on the side of the good guys in this one.

By the way, that 2nd example of that Robin person seems less of an issue of being jailed for being in debt, and more of a case of being jailed for failing to appear in court over an issue regarding debt. Kind of "grasping at straws" example there; failing to appear in court has lead to such consequences for ages.
 
Zefah said:
Don't forget SOPA and Protect IP.
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One can only hope that they don't pass. We'll find out more with SOPA today, but I don't know much about Protect IP. Aren't they very similar?

The_Technomancer said:
*sigh* Just showed this to a friend. Her reaction:
"So they're overreacting, but the idea itself isn't flawed. And hey, now the homeless person has somewhere to live :P"
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While I'm sure there are a many homeless people that now have a place to live, a few of the debts are ridiculous to jail someone for. Could just be convenient examples, but I wouldn't be surprised if there were several more like those.

Soka said:
Awesome, the FTC is on the side of the good guys in this one.

By the way, that 2nd example of that Robin person seems less of an issue of being jailed for being in debt, and more of a case of being jailed for failing to appear in court over an issue regarding debt. Kind of "grasping at straws" example there; failing to appear in court has lead to such consequences for ages.
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If she really didn't know, and wasn't notified, that's obviously the fault of the collection agency. But I take your point.
 
Wow, I mean how many more stories about this country's downward spiral are needed until something is done.
 
I am glad these people with debts in the hundreds of dollars are going to jail while investment bankers who were complicit in the global economy spiraling into chaos walk free. Seems fair!
 
Hold on, that does not make sense. A debt hearing is a civil hearing, and you're not required to appear like a criminal hearing. If you don't appear, you'll automatically lose, and get a judgement against you, and then it's up to the other party to collect, either via garnishing your wages or your property. I don't buy the fact that you can get a warrant for FTA for a civil hearing. If you owed the state for a ticket or something, that's entirely different and can land you in jail.
 
coldfoot said:
Hold on, that does not make sense. A debt hearing is a civil hearing, and you're not required to appear like a criminal hearing. If you don't appear, you'll automatically lose, and get a judgement against you, and then it's up to the other party to collect, either via garnishing your wages or your property. I don't buy the fact that you can get a warrant for FTA for a civil hearing. If you owed the state for a ticket or something, that's entirely different.
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Yeah, I don't understand that either.
 
The first woman was jailed for failure to appear, not for her debt and her story has been reused repeatedly over the past year everytime someone wants to rehash this idea.
 
slit said:
Yeah, I don't understand that either.
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Same here. The only way I can think of where failure to appear in a civil proceeding can get you in jail is if you are in contempt somehow. Normally, failing to appear does not amount to that. As has been said, you simply lose the case and a judgment is entered against you. But if you are ordered to appear at, for example, a debtor's examination (where after winning a judgment against you, the creditor gets to ask you about your assets), and you disobey that order, that could be contempt of court, which can land you in jail. There's nothing fishy about that, though.
 
The terrible trend of the past 5 years is that debt is undischargable. Countries and individuals simply cannot default. That's not how debt is supposed to work, there needs to be the risk of failure.
 
I have an outstanding medical bill that I can't pay until next month, and it's already more than a few months late.

They'll never take me alive.
 
Guevara said:
The terrible trend of the past 5 years is that debt is undischargable. Countries and individuals simply cannot default. That's not how debt is supposed to work, there needs to be the risk of failure.
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I'm so glad I incorporated myself. I even have my own golden parachute that was created by me. Life is good.
 
balddemon said:
If she really didn't know, and wasn't notified, that's obviously the fault of the collection agency. But I take your point.
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Right, well I'm just saying that it's not impossible for someone to lie about being notified. Of course, as you said, the collection agency is definitely at fault if they didn't properly notify her. Either way, she was arrested for missing a court appearance, not for having debt.
 
This is odd. We get garnishment requests constantly when people failed to appear and lost the case. Whether the debt is legit or not, if you don't show you pay.

So the collections companies (& government) file garnishments and they almost always get the money.

I wonder if the woman in the article works or has a bank account.

EDIT: Read the article and learned something new.
More than a third of all states now allow borrowers who don’t pay their bills to be jailed, even when debtor’s prisons have been explicitly banned by state constitutions. A report by the American Civil Liberties Union found that people were imprisoned even when the cost of doing so exceeded the amount of debt they owed
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. That seems stupid.
 
little_dorrit_uk-show.jpg
 
Guevara said:
The terrible trend of the past 5 years is that debt is undischargable. Countries and individuals simply cannot default. That's not how debt is supposed to work, there needs to be the risk of failure.
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Only certain kinds of debt are non-dischargeable by individuals in a Ch.7 bankruptcy. (i) Alimony, (ii) Child Support, (iii) Back Taxes, (iv) Gov Fines, (v) Student Loans.

Also, how the fuck would you have an arrest warrant issued for not appearing at a small claims proceeding?
 
lawblob said:
Only certain kinds of debt are non-dischargeable by individuals in a Ch.7 bankruptcy. (i) Alimony, (ii) Child Support, (iii) Back Taxes, (iv) Gov Fines, (v) Student Loans.

Also, how the fuck would you have an arrest warrant issued for not appearing at a small claims proceeding?
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They've always sent those warrants out. They're big and brightly colored and meant to scare people. This is the first I've heard of people actually being arrested on them though
 
So not only is this unconstitutional and outrageous, it's costing local governments money they don't have in jailing and housing people.

Fucking ridiculous.
 
They should've paid their bills. I pay mine. And when I feel sick and cannot afford the doctor's visit, I don't go. It works itself out, or I die. So it goes. If that's not palatable to you, work harder, have more money to get ahead in the society in which you were born. I didn't, and I accept that.

Wacky, wacky.
 
renitou said:
They should've paid their bills. I pay mine. And when I feel sick and cannot afford the doctor's visit, I don't go. It works itself out, or I die. So it goes. If that's not palatable to you, work harder, have more money to get ahead in the society in which you were born. I didn't, and I accept that.

Wacky, wacky.
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Can't tell if serious or a parody...
 
I would still like to see more specifics. I don't understand how someone can be jailed for a civil matter. Especially when said matter is explicitly banned from doing jail time(aka debtors prison) in the states constitution. That would open up lawsuits against the state left and right for due process violations.
 
how do people not see the government waging war on the lower class to help their buddies in the upper class?

and they call the millionaire surtax class warfare

ha ha ha
 
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