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

[woo me with science]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/22/debtors-prison-legal-in-more-than-one-third-of-us-states_n_1107524.html

Debtors' Prison Legal In More Than One-Third Of U.S. States The Huffington Post Jillian Berman
First Posted: 11/22/11 12:37 PM ET Updated: 11/22/11 03:11 PM ET

....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.

....

Some states are attempting to rein in the practice of putting borrowers in jail, even as the number of borrowers threatened with arrest has surged since the financial crisis, according to a separate WSJ report. Washington state's House of Representatives voted unanamously in March to require debt collection companies to provide proof that borrowers had been notified about lawsuits before judges could issue an arrest warrant.

But, the number of complaints about debt collectors filed to the Federal Trade Commission jumped to 140,036 in 2010 from 104,766 per year in 2008. The FTC has taken 10 debt collection companies to court in the past three years, compared to six companies in the three years before that.

Even as their tactics get more aggressive, the debt collection sector is set to grow. The industry expects to increase by 26 percent over the next three years.

(more at link)

[Quartermass]

1. Well I wodner how long it'll be before msot people in America will be in debtor' prison.

[JohnnyBoots]

8. Ironic when you think that America the country should be in debtor's prison. NT

[RKP5637]

2. K&R !!! n/t

[nessa]

3. This is especially common with debtors who owe child support...

Although I'm not sure if parents who are jailed for not paying are jailed due to the inability to pay or for the refusal to pay.

[xchrom]

4. Recommend

[upi402]

5. The prison industrial complex & the debt collection industry

Gee golly, is this a trend?
:sarcasm:

[woo me with science]

6. Seen this thread?

After closing psychiatric hospitals, Michigan incarcerates mentally ill

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x2387534

[woo me with science]

7. 2008 PBS documentary on prisons for profit.

http://www.pbs.org/now/shows/419/

http://www.pbs.org/now/shows/419/video.html

[RKP5637]

9. The trend! Where are you working from, home? No, I'm working from prison. How's

that working for you? I'm an indentured servant for life, life imprisonment. At my pay rate I'm in for 500 years to pay off my debt. What's the good news in that? Well, we manufacture everything in the USA now, no more Chinese labor, they're too costly. The USA solved the inequality gap. How? We're all imprisoned now.

Welcome to the new America, USA, Inc. Sponsored and owned by the 1%.

[woo me with science]

10. Well said. nt