Submitted by Elaine Magliaro, Guest Blogger
In October of 2010, the American Civil Liberties Union published a report titled In for a Penny: The Rise of America’s New Debtors’ Prisons. The ACLU had found that debtors’ prisons were “flourishing” in this country, “more than two decades after the Supreme Court prohibited imprisoning those who are too poor to pay their legal debts.” In 2011, Huffington Post reported that debtors’ prisons were legal in more than one-third of the states in this country.
According to the ACLU report, some 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. These modern-day debtors’ prisons impose devastating human costs, waste taxpayer money and resources, undermine our criminal justice system, are racially skewed, and create a two-tiered system of justice.”
Marie Diamond—writing for ThinkProgress in December 2011:
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.
Two years ago, the Wall Street Journal reported—after interviewing twenty judges across the country—that the number of borrowers who were threatened with arrest in their courtrooms had “surged since the financial crisis began.” The Wall Street Journal added that some borrowers who were jailed had “no idea before being locked up that they were sued to collect an outstanding debt” because of “sloppy, incomplete or even false documentation.” Diamond said it was becoming more and more common for debtors to serve time in jail. She added that some debtors are even required to pay for their time spent in jail—which, she said, exacerbates their dire financial situations.
Back in 2011, NPR told the story of what happened to an Illinois woman named Robin Sanders:
She [Robin Sanders] 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.
“They say they send out these court notices, and nobody gets them,” Sanders says.
She spent four days in jail waiting for her father to raise $500 for her bail. That money was then turned over to the collection agency.
Just this month, the ACLU of Ohio published a report titled The Outskirts of Hope: How Ohio’s Debtors’ Prisons Are Ruining Lives and Costing Communities. The ACLU found that many municipalities in Ohio “routinely imprison those who are unable to pay fines and court costs despite a 1983 United States Supreme Court decision declaring this practice to be a violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution.” The ACLU said that affluent residents of Ohio who are sentenced to pay fines after being convicted of a criminal or traffic offense can simply pay the fines and go on with their lives. The same does not hold true for “Ohio’s poor and working poor” who may not have the monetary resources to pay their fines. Such people may find themselves at the “beginning of a protracted process that may involve contempt charges, mounting fees, arrest warrants, and even jail time. The stark reality is that, in 2013, Ohioans are being repeatedly jailed simply for being too poor to pay fines.”
Some Findings from The Outskirts of Hope:
Debtors’ Prisons In Ohio
• Despite clear constitutional and legislative prohibitions, debtors’ prison practices are alive and well throughout Ohio. An investigation by the ACLU of Ohio uncovered conclusive evidence of these practices in 7 of the 11 Ohio counties examined.
• Courts in Huron, Cuyahoga, and Erie counties are among the worst offenders. In the second half of 2012, over 20% of all bookings in the Huron County Jail were related to failure to pay fines. In Cuyahoga County, the Parma Municipal Court jailed at least 45 people for failure to pay fines and costs between July 15 and August 31, 2012. During the same period in Erie County, the Sandusky Municipal Court jailed at least 75 people for similar charges.
• Based on the ACLU of Ohio’s investigation, there is no evidence that any of these people were given hearings to determine whether or not they were financially able to pay their fines, as required by the law.
The ACLU of Ohio reported that the U.S. Constitution, the Ohio Constitution, and Ohio Revised Code all prohibit debtors’ prisons. It said that the courts are required by law to determine whether an individual is too poor to pay a fine before jailing the person. It added that “debtors’ prisons actually waste taxpayer dollars by arresting and incarcerating people who will simply never be able to pay their fines, which are in any event usually smaller than the amount it costs to arrest and jail them.”
According to CBS News, “high rates of unemployment and government fiscal shortfalls that followed the housing crash have increased the use of debtors’ prisons, as states look for ways to replenish their coffers.” Inimai Chettiar, director of the justice program at New York University School of Law’s Brennan Center for Justice, said, “It’s like drawing blood from a stone. States are trying to increase their revenue on the backs of the poor.” He added, “It’s a growing problem nationally, particularly because of the economic crisis.”
Does it make sense to jail poor people for failure to pay their fines when jailing them only drives them deeper into debt and also “costs counties more than the actual debt because of the cost of arresting and incarcerating individuals?”
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“Unfortunately, many Americans live on the outskirts of hope — some because of their poverty, and some because of their color, and all too many because of both. Our task is to help replace their despair with opportunity.”
– President Lyndon B. Johnson (State of the Union, 1964)
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SOURCES
The Outskirts of Hope: How Ohio’s Debtors’ Prisons Are Ruining Lives and Costing Communities (ACLU)
IN FOR A PENNY: The Rise of America’s New Debtors’ Prisons (ACLU)
Report: Ohio Is Illegally Throwing Poor People In Jail For Owing Money (Think Progress)
The Return Of Debtor’s Prisons: Thousands Of Americans Jailed For Not Paying Their Bills (Think Progress)
Debtors’ Prison Legal In More Than One-Third Of U.S. States (Huffington Post)
Debtor Arrests Criticized (Wall Street Journal)
Welcome to Debtors’ Prison, 2011 Edition (Wall Street Journal)
Modern-day debtors’ prison alleged in Ohio (NBC/AP)
Unpaid Bills Land Some Debtors Behind Bars (NPR)
Modern-day debtors’ prison alleged in Ohio (NBC News)
OH I forgot… when the Bill Collector gets your cell phone number (and they will… eventually), download a ringtone called “mosquito”. Then assign the bill collector’s caller-id to that. If you are over 25 you will not be able to hear it. However, your kids will. So what? That’ll teach them to pay their bills when they get older (LOL).
Some cell phones have caller-id blocker apps built-in but most do not. So this idea has merit. You can download mosquito here:
There are all forms of trickery to thwart a bill collector from hounding you. On the telephone? Get a VOIP* account under an assumed name and disconnect your old phone. Postal mail? Get a PO Box or a UPS mailbox and just remove your home mailbox. Your old mail will just build up at the local USPS post office. Knock at the door? Get a CCTV* system with intercom and a remote dog barking machine. Bill-collector guy camped out in front of your house? 911 report of possible suspicious vehicle with potential drug activity.
If you really want to keep your old phone number just invest into PHONE TRAY* and a USB modem. This software can be tailored to keep bill collectors totally confused with bogus telephone disconnect notices. However, they are wise to this and use a cadre of different US area codes and exchanges to defeat this. However PHONE TRAY’s wild card feature defeats that pretty well. It will announce verbally when people you want to talk to call.
*VOIP – is a Internet based home telephone service like VONAGE, NetTalk, MagicJack, Skype, etc. 911 will work with them now. But you have to give your real name and address for that to work. If you don’t need 911 then you can use a fake name to protect your identity.
*PhoneTray – it’s free at phonetray(dot)com – change (dot) to a period to work. You can get USB modem from his website too.
*CCTV (closed circuit television cameras) – available at your local Radio Shack store or on the Internet at x10(dot)com – least expensive supplier. They also sell ROBO-DOG. Perimeter alarms too… yes Bill Collectors are doing all kinds of illegal stuff these days!
Just short of carrying around a ‘pro se’, pre-printed, pre-signed writ of “habeas corpus” or “great writ” I don’t know how you can stop police from arresting you on some phony warrant cooked up by an over-imaginative bill collector. At least they (or the jailer) would have to haul you in front of court IMMEDIATELY or release you on P.T.A. or O.R. See tinyurl(dot)com/cwb9lbn for help there
I will admit that Connecticut is one of the WORSE violators of civil rights in USA. A CT bounty hunter can kick in your door to arrest his bounty WITHOUT a warrant! Simply because the bounty is hiding in your house! He can also be heavily armed as most of them are.
A CT Sheriff does not have to do “positive” service on issuing a subpoena, or any other kind of court summons documentation. He can simply drop it on the front porch, stick it in the door, drop it in the mailbox, etc. It’s not like on TV where they will resort to all kinds of trickery to do a positive service (i.e. put it in your hand).
This is the reason why so many people in CT have NO IDEA they are being summoned to court as the Sheriff’s Dept is so careless in it’s service. And they are allowed to do this.
And then our wonderful federal USPS service has a bad habit of mis-delivering mail because they are either listening to headphones, lazy, or otherwise distracted from doing their jobs well. This too causes people to miss their court dates with no resolution from the federal govt on this particular garbage.
In CT the judicial dept says “well we have a website in where litigants can look up their pending cases…”. OMG most poor people in Hartford, New Haven, and Bridgeport have no clue what a “website” even is! And don’t get me started on the courthouse administration being arrogant on the phone or making people wait in long lines to inquire about their cases.
Trust me the richest state in USA (with the most poorest urban population) – namely Connecticut (home of George W. Bush – New Haven) is totally broken! Been that way for a loooonnnggg time too.
Gun violence is very bad there and they make almost 90% of the world’s guns there (or close by i.e. Massachusetts). They have a high incidence of mental illness among the poor. They now have the strictest US gun laws as of recently. The huge palatial mansions of Hartford overlook the poorest area in USA – northern Hartford. Is it a coincidence that the largest gun manufacturers, largest pharmacological manufacturers, oldest rich American families, and the oldest most dangerous most powerful secret society of all times ALL exist in Connecticut?
They have a great governor but his hands are tied… He’s about to pass a bill that takes money away from poor people and the rich continue to be the LOWEST taxpayers in America.
I guess the poor just can’t get a break here huh? No wonder the resort to crime to compensate for their plight in life – and the prison system in CT! Yikes…
OK I guess I’m confused (again)… This article was posted as a resurrection of 19th century debtor’s prison based on poor people BREAKING THE LAW to get themselves fined and then failing to pay the fine, get a contempt citation, and must serve some time?
OK I get the part where the scum-bag bill collectors swear out fake documentation to make it appear to the court and law enforcement officers as a governmental-sponsored-entity fraud (i.e. doctor, hospital, etc). That’s wrong. The bill collector(s) should be fined/jailed for lying to the court and LEO’s. In some states you can be arrested and fined/jailed for defrauding an inn-keeper with a deliberately bounced check (i.e. Connecticut). I guess in Illinois it applies to medical services rendered by a doctor or hospital? (In those cases Medicaid or Medicare may be involved – i.e. government).
In some of these scenarios I do not see a problem with incarceration for deliberately defrauding a mercantile entity as you would actually be a criminal in an criminal endeavor. However, being picked up on a warrant for being in default on your mortgage or your credit card bill is just ridiculous. Is this what is happening? If so then then this is wrong too. However, Mr. Obama (etal) has many programs to help the poor with debt such as this. All things can be renegotiated or simply liquidated under USBC (which dates back to George Washington’s days).
There’s no excuse for “debtor’s prison” and maybe even this article. I dunno’ I’m just saying…
The greedy rich suck the life blood out of the poor, they’re parasites. The rich skew the laws to make slaves out of people so whatever they earn goes to THEM. One day they’ll stand before God and find out that God won’t forgive THEIR debts. All their cursed money won’t keep them out of a devil’s hell. Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy. but the flip side of the coin is if you aren’t merciful, God won’t show you any either.
Probation as a Revenue Scheme for Cash-Strapped States
By: David Dayen
Tuesday July 3, 2012
http://news.firedoglake.com/2012/07/03/probation-as-a-revenue-scheme-for-cash-strapped-states/
Excerpt;
It’s largely hidden from view for those who stay on the right side of the law, but the indignities placed on those unlucky enough to get caught up in the justice system include layered-on financial penalties. Over the years, states have added all kinds of fees on those least able to pay. And they outsource the collection to private companies that simply do not relent, and know exactly how to pyramid fees on top of fees. That’s how a speeding ticket becomes a debt for life.
This basically signals the return of debtor’s prisons in the United States, and it’s actually worse, because the citizens are paying for the privilege of landing in prison. In many areas, several rights (like the right to vote) rely on paying these back fines and fees after leaving jail. When they can’t pay the fine, the ex-convicts lose even more of their rights.
Private Probation Company Called An Unregulated Tool for Corruption
By LIZ POTOCSNAK
Thursday, January 27, 2011
http://www.courthousenews.com/2011/01/27/33674.htm
Excerpt:
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (CN) – A class action accuses a private probation company of bilking and extorting probationers who must pay for its services. The class claims that Providence Community Corrections, which operates in 45 states, triples the probation term of its average “client” so it can milk monthly supervision fees from them, charges far more in fees than the courts or service providers do, and does it all without an agency to regulate it, or to whom probationers can complain. And the class notes that there are “obvious and inherent problems associated with judges owning an interest in private probation companies.”
Misty Dawn Bell sued Providence in Davidson County Chancery Court, alleging violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and the Consumer Protection Act. She seeks punitive damages for the class.
Bell claims that Providence’s unjustified supervision fees and other costs have extended her probation for more than a year because she could not afford the costs. She says she is not the only probationer affected by Providence’s behavior
Ms. Bell alleges that the probation of persons initially placed on probation for 11 months and 29 days routinely lasts in excess of three (3) years as a result of the wrongful conduct of PCC … the probation of one individual has lasted in excess of eight (8) years,” the complaint states.
Bell claims that Providence overcharges probationers, extorts money from them, intimidates them into signing unfair contracts, adulterates urine samples to make it look like they used drugs and sexually harasses and sexually assaults them.
Armed sheriff’s deputies act as Providence agents, adding to the intimidation and harassment, Bell says, and “PCC and judges incarcerate probationers based on their inability to pay.”
rafflaw,
Amazing is right!
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Privatization
Southern Center for Human Rights
https://www.schr.org/poor/privatization
Making money off of prisoners and other people under the thumb of the justice system is a time-honored tradition in the South. The first iteration was the infamous convict-leasing system of the Jim Crow era, under which inmates were forced to work in deplorable conditions for the profit of private contractors. That tradition continues today with the privatization of prisons, prison healthcare, probation, and with the efforts of the state to fund the criminal justice system off the backs of poor people.
In some cases, privatization of the criminal justice system results in a cutting of services as private businesses seek a profit margin on the government contract. In the case of the HIV unit at Limestone Correction Facility in Alabama, cutting costs meant losing lives.
In other cases, privatization of the criminal justice system means giving private companies a license to make money off of poor people. In courts across Georgia and Alabama, people who are unable to pay traffic fines or fines for other misdemeanors are placed on probation under for-profit companies until they pay their fines off. The government saves itself some administrative cost, but poor people end up paying exorbitant fees, facing threats & intimidation when they are unable to pay, and enduring increased risk of reincarceration for their poverty. The privatization of misdemeanor probation has allowed for-profit companies to act essentially as collection agencies with law enforcement authority. These companies, focused on profit rather than public safety or rehabilitation, provide no case management and little to no supervision. Any underlying issues of poverty, unemployment, family instability, or lack of housing are likely to go unaddressed. Instead, poor people are threatened and intimidated into coming up with payment for their fine and supervision fees on a weekly or monthly basis, often for crimes that were poverty-related in the first place. Proposed criminal justice reforms in Georgia could increase the number of people on private probation in the state if some low-level felonies are reclassified as misdemeanors. Meanwhile, private probation companies continue to enjoy state-sanctioned secrecy for all of their records.
The ideology of business is infecting even the government run-corrections system, as more and more of the burden of funding the system is placed on those incarcerated by it, along with their families. Jails frequently charge fees for medical visits and prescriptions, as in the case of Madison County Jail. People who are incarcerated must frequently buy basic necessities, like soap and boxers, from the prison store. In Georgia, when people on felony probation have difficulty paying their fines, they may be sentenced to “Diversion Centers” where they must pay the state for room and board out of slim paychecks from minimum-wage jobs. Alternative forms of “offender-funded” correctional control such as electronic monitoring are also on the rise.
SCHR strongly opposes the privatization of the criminal justice system in all its forms. The interests of businesses do not conform to the interests of justice, and those who suffer the difference are the incarcerated, the sick, and the poor.