This is supposed to be the US, not some dictatorship - Woman put in jail because she is poor

[ck4829]

The American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan asked for an emergency hearing today on behalf of an Escanaba woman sentenced to 30 days in jail because she is too poor to reimburse the court for her son’s stay in a juvenile detention facility.

“Like many people in these desperate economic times, Ms. Nowlin was laid off from work, lost her home and is destitute,” said Michael J. Steinberg, ACLU of Michigan Legal Director. “Jailing her because of her poverty is not only unconstitutional, it’s unconscionable and a shameful waste of resources. It is not a crime to be poor in this country and the government must stop resurrecting debtor’s prisons from the dustbin of history.”

In December 2008, Ms. Nowlin’s 16-year-old son was sentenced to the Bay Pines Center and Ms. Nowlin was ordered to pay $104 per month for his lodging. At the time of this order, Ms. Nowlin was homeless and working part-time with a friend after being laid off from her job. She told the court that she was unable to pay the ordered amount, however the judge found her in contempt for failing to pay. In addition, Ms. Nowlin’s requests for a court appointed attorney were denied.

Since March 3, 2009, Ms. Nowlin has been serving her sentence at the Delta County Jail. On March 6, 2009, she was released for one day to work. Once released she picked up her $178.53 check from work thinking that she now could pay the $104.00 to get out of jail. However, upon her return to jail that evening, the sheriff forced her to sign over her check to the jail to cover $120.00 for “room and board.” She was also charged $22 for a drug test and the booking fee.

According to the ACLU’s motion: “This country did away with debtors’ prisons more than a century ago. The imprisonment of Ms. Nowlin because she is too destitute to make payments to the court is a miscarriage of justice.”

http://aclumich.org/issues/due-process/2009-03/1353

[marketcrazy1]

1. if cruelty and stupidity were crimes

the judge would be doing hard time!!!

[TheMightyFavog]

2. Par for the course.

A lot of jails are charging inmates room and board. Inmates get hit with some pretty nasty debt once they get out.

[derby378]

3. Don't we have a new President now who's supposed to put a stop to this BS?

Jails are paid for by our tax dollars, not by the inmates' parents. Enough said.

[damntexdem]

4. This is disgusting. The judge should be impeached.

The only proper attitude toward that court IS contempt.

[n2doc]

5. The Return of the Debtors prison n/t

[B Whale]

16. are these prisons run privatley in the US. Is that why

the woman had to pay?

It reminds me of a Dickens novel

[HereSince1628]

6. "requests for a court appointed attorney were denied."

Is this because the offense is a misdemeanor? What is the deal with that?

[rug]

9. It's because contempt of an order of support is not criminal.

At least that's what the state will argue. I think the MCLU have them by the balls on this one though.

[HereSince1628]

11. Thanx.

[FiveGoodMen]

7. As I said (and certainly meant) in another thread on this topic

God damn the people responsible.

May they die screaming.

May they be buried in nuclear waste.

May their names be cursed by every human that ever lives.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

8. When did we start billing inmates/parents of inmates?

[Freddie Stubbs]

10. Many jurisdictions are doing this, as taxpayers do not want to pay to incarcerate criminals, but

also do not want them to go unpunished.

[pacalo]

14. Only about 27% of this country are that ignorant, & the judge is apparently in that number.

[Two Americas]

27. growing trend

This is a growing trend around the country. It is getting close to being debtor's prisons.

[Festivito]

12. Same story in LBN, Link.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x3807279

[snappyturtle]

13. OMG! There are no words for this stupidity and injustice. So what

was her son doing while she's serving her sentence? (I haven't read the article yet.) How have the courts evolved to reach this type of deluded justice?

[B Whale]

15. Spot the crime!

[reggie the dog]

17. How much do you want to bet

that the lady is not white. She may be white, but for justice to be this harsh I am thinking she is a bit darker.

[Taitertots]

18. So people don't have to pay fines anymore?

I better tell this guy I know to call the ACLU. He got locked up because he couldn't pay his several thousand dollar DUI fees after losing his job.

[sweetpotato]

19. Call his mother

Isn't she responsible for her child's crimes?

Apparently the mother in the OP is. The child is not paying a fine - the child's mother has been ordered to pay rent to the jail.

Not a fine. Mom didn't do anything wrong, except not have the money to pay the jail rent.

[file83]

21. I was torn on this issue at first, but I came down on the side that this is wrong.

At first glance, it seems right that the parents should pay (suffer) for the irresponsible behaviors of their child.

However, there are several slippery slopes to this concept. First is, what if the parent did everything they could to make sure the child was raised right but the kid is messed up (abused by someone else, like a preacher or something) and so commits some violent assault. Why should the parent pay for that?

My point is, who is determining and by what metrics do they assess the parent's level of negligence in the child's crime?

Furthermore, many juvenile facilities are private for-profit companies. So, is there lobbying going on to "influence" politicians to create stricter punishments (longer sentences) for juvenile offenders, just to increase their profits at the expense of parents? Not to mention, the monthly rent charged to the parent today may only be $104/month, but what's to prevent the rent from going up year after year until the "fee" is something completely unreasonable (like $2000/month)?

My final point is this is why we pay taxes, to handle civic issues (like crime and rehabilitation). Passing off the fee to parents is like sweeping the problem under the rug - taxpayers feel they no longer have to deal with the issue of child crime since they no longer pay for it, which in the end, will only make the issue worse through neglect.

The result is our society "feels better" in the short term, but becomes less healthy in the long term.

[ck4829]

20. I didn't know paying for being jailed fit under the category of "fines"

[ConcernedCanuk]

22. "jail rent" - wow that's gotta be a Murikkkan phenomenon

.
.
.

and she shoulda just never signed the check,

but I do know how intimidating the cops can be.

ON going to jail, lockup -

say as little as possible and sign NOTHING unless it is for retrieving your belongings when they let you out -

or on the advice of a trusted lawyer/attorney.

Keep all your orifices SHUT in jail

best advice ever . . .

[derby378]

23. I think we need to denounce this at the state level during the mid-terms next year

I'll try to research Texas law governing this practice, but if it's not illegal to charge inmates for their incarceration - let alone imprison their parents for failing to pay up - it damn well should be.

The best strategy would be to introduce a plank for your state party platform that would outlaw or severely curtail this sort of thing. I plan to do that starting at next year's precinct convention. Who's with me?

[Pacifist Patriot]

24. I am speechless.

[LiberalPersona]

25. When the hell

did prison cells become motel rooms?

[RedCappedBandit]

26. Justice is no longer a part of America's values system

if it ever was

i am fuming

[malaise]

28. Rushicans have infected every institution

This is fucking madness.

[MadMaddie]

29. This is a direct result of the * administrations policies

If you are poor in this country, you can drown in a city, we can throw you in jail we can destroy you. But if you are rich or a corporation you have nothing to worry about.

This is exactly what is sounds like "debtors prison"!