Post by caseagainstfaith on Oct 23, 2011 17:31:10 GMT -5
Poor people increasingly are being jailed for failing to pay legal debts they can never hope to afford, according to a new report released today by the American Civil Liberties Union. “Debtors’ prisons” create new hardships for people seeking to re-enter society and waste resources in an often fruitless effort to extract payments from defendants who may be homeless, unemployed, or simply too poor to pay. The report looks at “debtors’ prisons” and their devastating impact on individuals in Washington – one of five states highlighted in the report.
“It’s like something out of Dickens – impoverished people being locked up because they can’t pay off all their debts. And like something by Kafka – the government spending more money keeping someone behind bars than what it will collect for debt itself,” said Doug Honig, Communications Director for the ACLU of Washington.
“In for a Penny: The Rise of America’s New Debtors’ Prisons” details how states across the country are more aggressively going after poor people who have already served their criminal sentences. Doing so undermines their prospects for successfully re-entering society and burdens the public with more costs for incarceration. The rise of debtors’ prisons also has a disproportionate impact on people of color, who are overrepresented in the criminal justice system.
“We are creating a two-tiered system of justice in which the poorest among us are punished more harshly than those with means, at a great cost to taxpayers,” said Eric Balaban, Senior Staff Attorney with the ACLU’s National Prison Project.
In Washington, there are no fewer than 28 separate fines and fees (LFOs) that a judge may impose on a criminal defendant, depending on the offense and sentence. Twelve percent interest accrues on all unpaid legal debts from the date of sentencing. It is not surprising that the many people who are indigent at the time of sentencing quickly are overwhelmed by the debt.
In a recent case discussed in the ACLU report, a Spokane man ended up spending 300 days in jail for failing to pay legal debts imposed in his criminal case – even though his original sentence was only 30 days in jail. The man had explained to the court that he had no way to pay because he was unemployed and homeless.
“It’s like something out of Dickens – impoverished people being locked up because they can’t pay off all their debts. And like something by Kafka – the government spending more money keeping someone behind bars than what it will collect for debt itself,” said Doug Honig, Communications Director for the ACLU of Washington.
“In for a Penny: The Rise of America’s New Debtors’ Prisons” details how states across the country are more aggressively going after poor people who have already served their criminal sentences. Doing so undermines their prospects for successfully re-entering society and burdens the public with more costs for incarceration. The rise of debtors’ prisons also has a disproportionate impact on people of color, who are overrepresented in the criminal justice system.
“We are creating a two-tiered system of justice in which the poorest among us are punished more harshly than those with means, at a great cost to taxpayers,” said Eric Balaban, Senior Staff Attorney with the ACLU’s National Prison Project.
In Washington, there are no fewer than 28 separate fines and fees (LFOs) that a judge may impose on a criminal defendant, depending on the offense and sentence. Twelve percent interest accrues on all unpaid legal debts from the date of sentencing. It is not surprising that the many people who are indigent at the time of sentencing quickly are overwhelmed by the debt.
In a recent case discussed in the ACLU report, a Spokane man ended up spending 300 days in jail for failing to pay legal debts imposed in his criminal case – even though his original sentence was only 30 days in jail. The man had explained to the court that he had no way to pay because he was unemployed and homeless.
source- www.aclu-wa.org/news/aclu-report-exposes-modern-day-debtors-prisons
how the hell is this legal and why isn't something being done?
