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tblue37

(68,388 posts)

3. Debtors' prisons. They are supposed to be illegal, but power does whatever power wants to do.

Tue May 26, 2015, 07:10 PM

May 2015

ON EDIT:

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In the United States, debtors’ prisons were banned under federal law in 1833. A century and a half later, in 1983, the Supreme Court affirmed that incarcerating indigent debtors was unconstitutional under the Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection clause. Yet, citizens like Sanders and Ford are, to this day, routinely jailed after failing to repay debt. Though de jure debtors’ prisons are a thing of the past, de facto debtors’ imprisonment is not.

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https://www.themarshallproject.org/2015/02/24/debtors-prisons-then-and-now-faq

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'Pay to stay': Inmates across U.S. charged for their own incarceration [View all] mfcorey1 May 2015 OP

Soon it will be families that have to provide meals yeoman6987 May 2015 #1

If people are to be punished by the state hifiguy May 2015 #2

Debtors' prisons. They are supposed to be illegal, but power does whatever power wants to do. tblue37 May 2015 #3

BTW, how long before we do as China does, and charge the prisoner's family for the cost of tblue37 May 2015 #4

The comments at the end of the article will piss you off more than the story. BlueJazz May 2015 #5

Now some things make sense oldinmiss May 2015 #6

And we lead the world in incarceration for that very reason. arcane1 May 2015 #7

Ever see someone with an ankle monitor? Nevernose May 2015 #8

kicking people when they are down Skittles May 2015 #9