In 19th Century Great Britain, more than half of all people incarcerated were there because of unpaid bills and debts. The issue reached the U.S. Supreme Court in the 1970s, with two cases in which the Court found it unconstitutional to incarcerate people solely because they could not pay a public debt (Williams v. By reading a z leveled books best pizza sauce at whole foods reading a z leveled books best pizza sauce at whole foods ^ See, e.g., Harrison v. Harrison, 394 S.W.2d 128, 13031 (Ark. What are some types of debt that people are sent to jail for not paying? at 46 (quoting Or. Debtors' prisons impose devastating human costs. at 5. ^ The constitutional imprisonment-for-debt provisions are as follows: Ala. Const. 1679, 1679 n.1 (1971). Second, costs. In response, since 2009, the ACLU and ACLU affiliates across the country have been exposing and challenging modern-day debtors' prisons, and urging governments and courts to pursue more rational and equitable approaches to criminal justice debt. If debtors imprisonment is unconstitutional, why does it happen? Debra Shoemaker Ford, a citizen of Harpersville, Ala., spent seven weeks in the county jail without ever appearing in court. ^ Indeed, when trying to determine whether or not to read a scienter requirement into a statute, courts are guided by principles like those laid out in Morissette v. United States, 342 U.S. 246 (1952), looking to any required culpable mental state, the purpose of the statute, its connection to common law, whether or not it is regulatory in nature, whether it would be difficult to enforce with a scienter requirement, and whether the sanction is severe. Feb. 8, 2015) [hereinafter Complaint, Jenkins v. Jennings], http://equaljusticeunderlaw.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Complaint-Jennings-Debtors-Prisons-FILE-STAMPED.pdf [http://perma.cc/LM7S-LZW2]. 2255s Statute of Limitations. ^ For example, one author, writing in 1889, pointed out a number of ways in which the state bans were limited. New York released prisoners owing less than $25 in 1818, doubled this threshold in 1825, and abolished imprisonment for debt in 1831. ^ See, e.g., Joseph Shapiro, Civil Rights Attorneys Sue Ferguson over Debtors Prisons, NPR (Feb. 8, 2015, 9:03 PM), http://www.npr.org/blogs/codeswitch/2015/02/08/384332798/civil-rights-attorneys-sue-ferguson-over-debtors-prisons (Weve seen the rise of modern American debtors prisons, and nowhere is that phenomenon more stark than in Ferguson and Jennings municipal courts and municipal jails. ^ Bearden v. Georgia, 461 U.S. 660, 66869 (1983). ^ See Charles Warren, Bankruptcy in United States History 52 (1935). As of October 2015, the case had survived a contentious motion to dismiss the judge had initially dismissed, then reconsidered and reinstated, two allegations of unconstitutional imprisonment for debt and was moving toward trial. (Oct. 21, 2014) (notes on file with Harvard Law School Library). That decision came in a 1983 case called Bearden v. 1983). In 2011, the ACLU and the ACLU of Michiganfiled lawsuits challenging "pay or stay" sentencesimposed onfive peoplewho were jailed by Michigan courts for being too poor to pay court fines. ^ But cf. I, 10; Colo. Const. (citing Commonwealth v. Farren, 91 Mass. Underlying the debts is a range of crimes, violations, and infractions, including shoplifting, domestic violence, prostitution, and traffic violations.27 The monetary obligations come under a mix of labels, including fines, fees, costs, and interest, and are generally imposed either at sentencing or as a condition of parole.28 Arrest warrants are sometimes issued when debtors fail to appear in court to account for their debts, but courts often fail to give debtors notice of summons, and many debtors avoid the courts out of fear of imprisonment.29 When courts have actually held the ability-to-pay hearings required by Bearden30 and theyve often neglected to do so31 such hearings have been extremely short, as many misdemeanor cases are disposed of in a matter of minutes.32 Debtors are almost never provided with legal counsel.33 The total amount due fluctuates with payments and added fees, sometimes wildly, and debtors are often unaware at any given point of the amount they need to pay to avoid incarceration or to be released from jail.34 Multiple municipalities have allowed debtors to pay down their debts by laboring as janitors or on a penal farm.35 One Alabama judge credited debtors $100 for giving blood.36, The problem is widespread.
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