debtors' prison in the US

[firecat]

This is not OK.

http://thesocietypages.org/socimages/2013/04/19/aclu-discovers-illegal-debtors-prisons-in-ohio/

Excerpts:

A new report by the ACLU reveals that “debtors’ prisons” in Ohio. The phrase refers to the practice of imprisoning someone for the failure to pay fines. This practice is in violation of the U.S. Constitution. Still, people who can’t afford to pay fines issued in response to traffic violations or misdemeanors are being routinely imprisoned in at least 7 out of 11 counties studied.
...
An investigation found that as many as 22% of the bookings in Huron were for failure to pay a fine, usually coded as “contempt.” Typically this resulted in a 10 day incarceration. The state would then charge them fees related to being jailed, making it even more unlikely that a person would be able to pay.

The ACLU report referred to:
http://www.acluohio.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/TheOutskirtsOfHope2013_04.pdf

Excerpts:

Debtors’ prison practices violate the Constitution. Over two decades ago, the U.S. Supreme Court banned the practice of jailing individuals who are unable to pay their fines and court costs.
• Debtors’ prison practices also violate Ohio law. The Ohio Constitution, Ohio Revised Code, and the decisions of Ohio courts prohibit incarcerating indigent defendants for failure to pay their fines.
• The law requires a meaningful hearing into an individual’s financial resources before the court may impose jail time for failure to pay fines.

Here's a report the ACLU released in 2010 about the same thing. Five states were studied: Georgia, Louisiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Washington state.

http://www.aclu.org/files/assets/InForAPenny_web.pdf

Excerpts:

Although states and counties view LFOs [legal financial obligations] as much-needed revenue, they do not systematically gather and produce data showing that their efforts to collect unpaid legal debts actually make money. In fact, incarcerating indigent defendants unable to pay their LFOs often ends up costing much more than states and counties can ever hope to recover.
...
In Washington, Hispanic defendants generally receive higher LFOs than white defendants convicted of similar offenses, and persons convicted of drug offenses receive significantly higher LFOs than those convicted of violent crimes.
...
Mr. Perrymon was arrested on March 10. During Mr. Perrymon’s status hearing on March 23, his public defender argued that because he had no money with which to pay, he should be released from jail—but the commissioner presiding over the hearing responded that someone in Mr. Perrymon’s family should be able to make a payment. Mr. Perrymon’s attorney called his client’s family members and his girlfriend, but no one was able to pay. Mr. Perrymon was sent back to jail.
...
To fulfill her LFO obligation, Ms. Young performed community service at an elderly living center. Then, the day before her LFO payments were due, her probation officer told her that her community service time would not count because the center was not nonprofit.
...
the assessment of lawyer fees have no relationship to—and are often much higher than—the actual cost of representation. Ms. Slomski notes that in her experience, defendants have been charged $400 to $500 in counsel fees when the attorney was actually paid $75.
...
Sr. Fritz has also seen women charged almost $10,000 in “tether fees”— parole supervision fees charged by the Michigan Department of Corrections at approximately $95 per week for two years. Nonpayment of these fees is reported to credit bureaus, thereby decreasing the released prisoner’s chance of finding a job and a place to live.

And then there's the way debtor's prison ends up being used as a way for one government program to grab money from another:

The Family Independence Program (FIP) [...] provides funds to low-income families with minor children to help them pay for living expenses such as rent, heat, utilities, clothing, and food and personal care items. Attorney Jennifer Fiess, who has worked in legal aid for years and recently has substitute-taught in alternative high schools, notes that the mothers of many of the children she teaches have spent chunks of their FIP income on court costs to prevent their child from going to jail for nonpayment of fines.

Comments

[flarenut]

Oh, please, it's not debtor's prison, it's just a prison you go to because you've committed contempt of court by failing to pay your debts as ordered. You know, the same way it's not torture, it's enhanced interrogation.

It's evil. And it sounds like it's also becoming a profit center for the jurisdictions that do it.

And it's yet another example of how expensive it is to be poor.

[outlier_lynn]

Well, it isn't just "coded" contempt; it is contempt. If a person creates a payment plan that a judge signs off on, it is a court order. Failure to pay is a violation of the court order and that is one of the forms of contempt.

However, it is a miscarriage of justice of the kind "just because you can do a thing doesn't mean you should do a thing." What happened to jail in lieu of fine?

None of this surprises me, though. Where the more "conservative" (a code word for a type of paranoid) elements of society are in control of the justice system, draconian measures flourish. It is the "personal responsibility" idiots who still think Ayn Rand is a deity and who believe people get what they deserve and "here, have some more."

[hitchhiker.livejournal.com]

that's sad, but not shocking :( poor people get pushed around by everyone; why should the law be any exception.

[johnpalmer.livejournal.com]

It should be shocking, though. That it's not is an even worse situation.

[firecat]

I am not shocked that it happens because I know someone it happened to, but I am shocked that states keep such poor budgeting records that they don't know how much this is costing them.

I don't know, there's this part of me that persists in thinking the organizations human beings form are capable of being a little competent and compassionate.

[johnpalmer.livejournal.com]

It *is* possible to be competent and compassionate, but budgets have been so tight for so long (meaning less staffing and longer hours) that I think even the best, most compassionate people could be exhausted.

And it's hard to advocate for "criminals"... even though violent crime's been decreasing for a long time, and there are so many pointless crimes.

[firecat]

I consider the tight budgets part of the lack of competence and compassion I'm talking about. IOW I'm talking about a systemic lack of competence/compassion, not about individuals who are employed in the system.

[johnpalmer.livejournal.com]

Heh. I believe the appropriate vernacular is "true that."

[sabotabby]

This would be the logical next step for capitalism, yes? Are there no prisons? Are there no workhouses? Etc.

[firecat]

Dunno if it's the next step or the current one.

[flarenut.livejournal.com]

It's currently being done by workarounds. Another generation and it will be explicit. And probably big companies won't need to involve those fussy, inefficient court systems.