Posted on 09/06/2015 2:02:22 PM PDT by BBell
Even though the U.S. Supreme Court has said it is unconstitutional, Louisiana still puts hundreds of people in prison every year just because they are too poor to pay court-ordered fines, court costs and costs of probation, according to a recent investigative report by the Louisiana chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union.
This misuse of the criminal legal system, often called "pay or stay" is flatly illegal. As The Marshall Project reported, the U.S. Congress outlawed the use of debtors' prisons -- jails for people too poor to pay off their debts -- under federal law nearly 200 years ago in 1833. The U.S. Supreme Court followed suit in 1983.
But in a survey of six weeks of court records from last year, the ACLU found that hundreds of people in Louisiana were given pay-or-stay sentences and well over a hundred people were jailed for unpaid fines or court costs. If this many people were wrongly sentenced and jailed in just six weeks, that means thousands have been illegally jailed annually.
The report tells the story of Dianne Jones, a grandmother of three, who was arrested in New Orleans for possession of marijuana. She was given the choice of six months' probation and paying $834 in fines and costs, at a rate of $150 per month, or spending every weekend in jail for six months. She protested that she did not earn enough to pay off $150 a month. Ultimately she had to accept the payment plan anyway because she was helping care for her grandchildren on the weekends so her daughter could work. Unable to pay off the last $148 of her $834 because of unanticipated moving costs, she was arrested and jailed under a $20,000 bond. She stayed in jail until a community group took up a
(Excerpt) Read more at huffingtonpost.com ...
BTW, a Grandmother of three could be 30 or 35. I'm sure you noticed that Dianne Jones age was not given. If she were an older lady you know the article would have.
this is quite common in alabama im all for tough on crime but private companies have turned the criminal justice system here into a for profit industry turning minor offenders into sort of wards of the state tacking on massive interest and fees onto fines in an effort to keep the offender under water
Everyone should attend court for a day a couple of times a year. It’s a machine to feed all the government deadheads and the courthouse crowd. Lawyers, judges, clerks, deputies, probation officers, secretaries, cops - all make a living with the revolving door.
I agree. The private prison industry has got completely out of hand.
The East coast liberals love to hate on the South. Never mind that in Pennsylvania, widows are being thrown out of their paid for homes because they can no longer pay the 6000+ per year in property taxes that the Teachers Unions require to pay their salaries and bennies.
We do need judicial and prison reform in this country. It may be hard to believe but the angola state penitentiary has a good system where it is encourages inmates to get their GED and learn a trade before they are released. Having known a few former Angola inmates I can tell you it actually works. The last thing these guys want to do is go back to jail and they are very reliable workers eager to make up for their lost time in the prison system. Hard workers too.
Going after Jindal.
“Debtors Prisons Alive and Well in Louisiana”
And in all 57 states if you owe child support.
Very true. The South is their boogie man for all things wrong. What stinks is that these very same liberals love to move down here and the first thing they do is try to change everything to like it was in the hell holes they left behind.
I have no trouble with child support but the current system is very screwed up. I know a lot of child support horror stories.
A better approach would be to put them to work and attach their pay until what owed is paid off.
As for playing hooky, have the students come in on a Saturday and make up for their lessons. But don't suspend them for skipping school. That's dumb.
Usually one is jailed for contempt if you are under a court order to pay. One is not jailed simply for being in debt.
Exactly, these are no debtors prisons.
How much crap are you going to take from a judge before you yourself will be in contempt? I’ve seen some judicial attitudes that would push me there. I’m not commenting on these particular cases but, as a nation, we put a LOT of people in jail that don’t really pose a menace to society. Some that do, walk.
What the hell is the difference? If you can’t pay, you can’t pay.
Our courts are no longer for justice, if indeed they ever were. They’re profit centers.
The judiciary is beneath contempt.
The same thing goes in Upstate New York— the local court system operates as an extortion racket preying on a population already pauperized by taxes and regulations.
The article is nonsensical on its face. Granny was given a 6 month sentence for posession or a fine. This was a jailable offense.
This isn’t someone going to jail because rhey couldn’t pay the fine for a non-jailable offense like speeding.
If you can’t do the time...
“Are there no prisons? Are there no work houses?”
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