Community | November 23, 2011 | 40 comments

Debtors' Prison Legal In More Than One-Third Of U.S. States

source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/22/debtors-prison-legal-in-more-than-one-third-of-us-s...

Image
Buckeye_Bill
The Huffington Post
Jillian Berman
First Posted: 11/22/11 12:37 PM ET
Updated: 11/22/11 03:11 PM ET

Not paying off debts can eventually land you in jail -- at least in a sizable minority of U.S. states.

"Borrowers who can't or don't pay their debts can be sent to jail in more than one-third of states, the Wall Street Journal reports. Judges may issue a warrant when a borrower either misses court ordered payments or doesn't show up in court after being sued for payments on outstanding debt. Though there are no national statistics on the practice of jailing debtors, a WSJ analysis found that judges have issued more than 5,000 debt-related warrants since the beginning of 2010.

As high joblessness, slow wage growth and plummeting home values push more Americans into debt, the aftermath of the recession also makes it increasingly difficult for consumers to pay it back, and the collectors of that debt are getting more aggressive as a result."

(And...)

"And in Kansas City, one man ended up in jail after missing only a furniture payment, KCTV5 reports. James Davis purchased a mattress, bed and computer, but soon lost his job to the recession, making it difficult for him to payoff the purchases. He was repeatedly pulled into court so that collectors could find ways for him to make the payments, but after missing one hearing a warrant was issued for his arrest. Davis is suing in federal court for the way he was treated."

(To read the entire article please click on this link: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/22/debtors-prison-legal-in-more-than-one-t...)
  1. groups:
    Community
  2. tags:
    Financial Crisis,  Labor,  Debtor's Prison
  3.     
    |

40 comments // Debtors' Prison Legal In More Than One-Third Of U.S. States

  • Steamed_N_More
  • smkovalinsky
  • GENERALNATTY
    • 0
      GENERALNATTY  

    • It sort of make's sense in time where there is not crisis, somebody rips you off for a couple grand and he/she is forced to pay with threat of jail time, its just that this financial crisis came along and made everything all mucky.

    • 6 months ago
  • Hardytoo
    • +1
      Hardytoo  
    • alexandrek:

      Calgary is crying out for skilled and unskilled workers - they'll even sponsor apprenticeships (in the Calgary area). The growth in Calgary jobs is astounding and the Cdn gov't announced the other day that they're opening up immigration for skilled workers. There are also jobs for unskilled workers in Calgary.
      It's a great city, near Banff National Park (about 1 hr's drive to great skiing) - good schools, fantastic services. (I'm not working for the City, honest. I did live there tho, and it's a great place for kids and adults.)
      Here's one post to check out:
      http://www.canada.com/business/Canada+accept+more+skilled+workers+2012/5652150/s...

    • 6 months ago
  • Varex_Sythe
  • Buckeye_Bill
  • cherry5000
  • Buckeye_Bill
  • cherry5000
  • cherry5000
    • +1
      cherry5000  

    • this is crazy!!! It doesn't surprise me. There was a case in maryland where the banks were letting debt collectors garnish the elderly social security and retirement checks without notifying them and charging them fees for insufficient funds. they didn't realize that under federal and state law; social security and retirement checks are protected from garnishment. the good news is, that those seniors got their money back.

    • 6 months ago
  • Leen61
    • +3
      Leen61  

    • I'm sure these debtors' prisons are for profit and privately run. How about we put the crooks on Wall Street in debtors' prisons instead of people who are out of work and can't make the payments? The wrong people are being punished...as usual.

    • 6 months ago
  • wally60
  • Leen61
  • zoomy1
  • alexandrek
  • zoomy1
  • lazloman
  • Vierotchka
  • Buckeye_Bill
  • Incredulous
  • Des_Akkari
  • Hardytoo
  • zoomy1
  • GRC54
    • +2
      GRC54  

    • Talk about wasting peoples tax money. Our law enforcement agencies don't have enough to do. Crime is that far down so they send them out to arrest citizens who can't afford to pay a bill so they can feed their families or keep a roof over their heads? Please!

    • 6 months ago
  • Cruzankenny
  • Buckeye_Bill
    • +2
      Buckeye_Bill  
    • Cruzankenny:

      What few morsels and tidbits are left I pick through to find the most "edible" to share with all my Current Commenters!

      But they are getting harder and harder to find! I remember the "old days"...I am Ohion4truth there...since february, 2007.

      I still have a few friends that hang out there, like Tom Joad, Good Googli Moogli, Enigma2, ThunderclapNewman and all. I can't seem to get them to leave the site to go elsewhere.

      Old habits, and "homes", are hard to break or leave for some of us!

    • 6 months ago
  • Cruzankenny
    • +1
      Cruzankenny  
    • Buckeye_Bill:

      I posted under this name since 2007. I kept getting harder and harder to even get a chance to see your post, much less have a back and forth.
      As it became more of a rag and her bias against the Administration really shined through, I started with DK and then Current. When she merged with AOL I wrote a post that basically said she could say goodbye to all her celebrity bloggers.
      From that time on, I was blacklisted. Even if a post made it and was published, within a half hour it was pulled.
      I haven't been back since and I haven't missed it.

    • 6 months ago
  • Buckeye_Bill
    • +2
      Buckeye_Bill  
    • Cruzankenny:

      "It kept getting harder and harder to even get a chance to see your post, much less have a back and forth."

      I haven't been posting comments there nearly as much as I did prior to AOL buying Arianna out.

      Plus, there's just too many trolls that roam the site. You know who they are because they have zero "fans" and haven't posted for more than a few weeks and all their posts are either pro Ron Paul or some other Rethuglican!

      And then there's all the unbelievable moderator heavy-handedness!

      It's getting harder and harder to post pro-Dem/Lib?prog/Indy comments now...ANYWHERE!

      Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!

      (Hiccup!)

      I feel better now....

    • 6 months ago
  • WNYmathGuy
  • percipi224
  • nardo1224
  • Buckeye_Bill
    • +6
      Buckeye_Bill  
    • Image
    • nardo1224:

      How did we get to where we are now? A new form of indentured servitude to financial institutions has risen from the bowels of greedy slave masters to ensnare our youth before they even see the light of day from the trenches they have dug with the shovels sold to them on the belief that the yoke of indebtedness is a good thing to have shackled to their shoulders. Just wait until those owing are put up for sale to the highest bidder as their new owners take on the mountain of debt for services the subservient will have to perform to repay the slave owner for their investment for your soul. I can only imagine what words will be used to describe what you will have to sign as a contract that will indemnify you to them for the rest of your natural working life.

    • 6 months ago
  • nardo1224
    • +2
      nardo1224  
    • Buckeye_Bill:

      BRAVO ! BRAVO1 This is what Americans need to read and hear instead of some digbat named Kardashian and her sham of a Wedding. I wish I knew how to forward this to facebook and google+ so people could see where we are heading.

    • 6 months ago
  • Buckeye_Bill
  • nardo1224
  • Buckeye_Bill
  • Buckeye_Bill
  • nardo1224
    • 0
      nardo1224  
    • Buckeye_Bill:

      To MY online friend Buckeye Bill of whom I learn so much from each and every time we correspond with each other. Thank you for the lesson on cutting and pasting, however, that is a skill I learned almost as soon as I learned how to write which leaves me with only a one word response to your instructions. CUTE!!.Have a great day and keep em coming cause the more you post the more I learn.

    • 6 months ago
  • Joeydee44
    • +2
      Joeydee44  

    • Try to choose a jail that is privately owned. Just because you are indigent doesn't mean your corporate overlords shouldn't have the opportunity to achieve higher profits on your condition.

    • 6 months ago
  • Buckeye_Bill
    • +2
      Buckeye_Bill  
    • Image
    • Joeydee44:

      "Try to choose a jail that is privately owned."

      AND the chance for escape is greater since the ratio of guards to "residents" is to one's advantage?

      Just call me Henri (Papillon) Charrière!

      "Exécuter, Papillon! Exécuter!"

      Just thunkin' ahead!

    • 6 months ago
more from Community:
from the community

top videos