Not really. The charges may not say "Failure to pay debt" but they are a direct result of failing to pay the debt or of being poor.
If you can't pay the debt, so you get fined with legal fees because you can't pay the debt. Now you don't pay the legal fees which are probably astronomical relative to the debt you owed in the first place, so you get charged with contempt of court and thrown in jail. It's all a direct result of failure to pay.
“they are a direct result of failing to pay the debt or of being poor...It’s all a direct result of failure to pay.”
Methinks you need to look up the word “direct.”
“The charges may not say ‘Failure to pay debt’ but they are a direct result of failing to pay the debt or of being poor.”
I’m not opposed to people being able to plead poverty, but you have to be there to plead it. Also, perhaps if you’re poor you should be extra careful not to get into debt in the first place. Also again, is poverty really the issue? It was more that she didn’t think the debt was hers. She might’ve been easily been able to pay it had she recognized an obligation.
Also again again, we’re talking about $280 here, not tens of thousands. There may exist people unable to pay that. Those people probably have bigger problems, like not being able to function as adults.