Posted on 12/02/2022 7:03:02 PM PST by artichokegrower
An elderly Alabama woman was brought to tears after she was handcuffed, arrested and put in jail by two officers after she failed to pay a $77.80 trash bill - with her community labelling the act as 'shameful.'
Martha Menefield, 82, was approached by the officers at her home on Sunday, the City of Valley police insisting that the elderly woman had been treated with respect.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Private debt is what you can not be put in jail for.
You can be put in jail for not paying your civic debts.
So, fines, fees to any level of government, child support are all considered civic debt.
Which is why you can go to jail for not paying child support. The money does not go to the child. It does not even go to the child's caretaker. It goes to the government who decided when and how it should be doled out.
In this case if it was a private waste hauler she could not be arrested, since it is under contract to, or owned by, the city she can be.
There have to be charges in order to go to court. There is something missing in the story
“ sounds like fake news. I doubt there are criminal penalties for not paying this bill.”
Very likely true
Unpaid bills of any sort are a civil matter. There is no need for an arrest, handcuffs, etc.
But of course many cops like to play tough when it comes to old, weak, or confused suspects. Then those same cops wonder why so many people mistrust, or even hate, the police.
They profiled this elderly church volunteer Grandmas as an easy mark is what some might say.
No quite.
I wonder about the judge who issued a warrant for this, maybe the corrupt gov’t official who wants her property, and the trash people who would not let anyone else pay it for her.
Arresting people with warrants is normal police work. The cops have no real discretion to tell the judge they won’t serve his warrant.
It seems like cops could have done a welfare check to make sure she was not dead, then said thank god you are OK
make sure you take care of this stupid trash bill before end of month or we may be forced to arrest you
(I have my doubts that she was properly served)
I watched a show called parking wars, it shows how it all works and how easy it is for gov’t to mess with people for profit.
Thanks for the detailed explanation.
22 times since 2006 she hasn’t paid bills???
At some point...yeah...you’re gonna get dunned and if you don’t show up in court your gonna get arrested.
22 times she didn’t pay bills??? Sorry, I have no sympathy for not paying for your utilities.
But, you are right...no need for cuffs...
I would say put liens on her property, but my guess is she doesn’t own it...just rents. So there is no lien procedure. If you don’t pay bills you go to jail...24, 42, 82, 129 years old..it just doesn’t matter.
Where were the liberal do-gooders who want to help everybody so they could pay her bills....oh wait...they won’t use THEIR OWN MONEY...they want to use MY MONEY to do that with.
Sorry....no sympathy from me.
To protect and serve?
Finally, important crime being dealt with!!
🙄🙄🙄🙄
What if she were an illegal?
There is one for failure to answer a court summons. Not saying it was handled correctly but if she had gone to court they would have most like got her some help or justs past the hat around and took care of the bill.
Alien.
[Not from outer space...]
I am in a situation where I own a home where the water meter is turned off, but every 3 months I have to pay $120 for water usage and sewage because the meter can be turned on.
I also have to pay $200 a year for trash pickup at the abandoned home, because a house is there.
This is complete GVT BS to me.
The so called “22 previous bills” are heresay and not public information. I hope she finds an attorney to go after the entire chain of authority to sue for multiple civil rights violations.
This is despicable and reeks of Democrat
I do the books for several small businesses and I have often had to give "the Talk" about why you should always pay your taxes, fees and other civic debt first.
Because with one you can get hauled into small claims court, which rarely happens if you are going through a real rough patch because they know there is no getting blood out of a stone where as if they let it ride they might get all their money when things take an up turn, but with the other they can and will shut you down and throw you in jail until you can cough up the money.
There is rarely any working with city hall. They have no need of profit or public goodwill.
I don’t care if it was 8 cops at $10 bucks each. This is despicable.
Ah! Thanks.
What nationality?
OK -so what proof of the “22 anythings” do you have exactly?
Zero, right? nothing... What universe do you live in where unpaid bills trigger an arrest warrant without due process?
You are as bad as these corrupt cops and the judge.
Knock on her door and ask if she was aware her bill has not been paid. Let her write a check.
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