Judge Must Release Woman Sentenced to Jail for Being Poor

[dbackjon]

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

[dbackjon]

VIVA LA REVOLUTION!


Dispicable way to treat fellow americans.

Debtors prison are so 17th century

[Cleets Part 2]

If you steal $250.00 dollars from a 7-11 you'll do 10 years...
If you steal 2.5 million in illegal appropriations of funds you'll do 90 probation



Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain

[travelinman67]

VIVA LA REVOLUTION!


Dispicable way to treat fellow americans.

Debtors prison are so 17th century

100% in agreement with you dback.

Charging inmates for room and board, then jailing them for inability to pay is beyond dispicable. ACLU did the right thing here, and the judge and judicial committee which established theses sentencing guideline deserve to have a size 14 steel toed boot put up their ass.

Shame on them.

[D1B]

This woman did have a court-appointed attorney. Unfortunately it was none other than



Mr. Bananas

*He fvcks everything up.

[travelinman67]

This woman did have a court-appointed attorney. Unfortunately it was none other than



Mr. Bananas

*He fvcks everything up.

...you're going to get a lot of mileage out of that bird...

BTW, Mr. Vulture's tip about the QB was confirmed today...by Mon. De Bergerac...

[clenz]

VIVA LA REVOLUTION!


Dispicable way to treat fellow americans.

Debtors prison are so 17th century

100% in agreement with you dback.

Charging inmates for room and board, then jailing them for inability to pay is beyond dispicable. ACLU did the right thing here, and the judge and judicial committee which established theses sentencing guideline deserve to have a size 14 steel toed boot put up their ass.

Shame on them.

So you don't think prisoners should have to pay the nightly fee to be imprisoned?

[D1B]

This woman did have a court-appointed attorney. Unfortunately it was none other than



Mr. Bananas

*He fvcks everything up.

...you're going to get a lot of mileage out of that bird...

BTW, Mr. Vulture's tip about the QB was confirmed today...by Mon. De Bergerac...

Monsiegnor DB is one handsome devil. Check out Mr. Banana's new dog.

[dbackjon]

100% in agreement with you dback.

Charging inmates for room and board, then jailing them for inability to pay is beyond dispicable. ACLU did the right thing here, and the judge and judicial committee which established theses sentencing guideline deserve to have a size 14 steel toed boot put up their ass.

Shame on them.

So you don't think prisoners should have to pay the nightly fee to be imprisoned?

And if they don't have the money to pay? Keep in jail? We don't need to be imprisoning people for crap like this. No point in it.

[travelinman67]

Monsiegnor DB is one handsome devil. Check out Mr. Banana's new dog.

A true bird dog...that has all the cats in the neighborhood sh!tting terrified.

[clenz]

So you don't think prisoners should have to pay the nightly fee to be imprisoned?

And if they don't have the money to pay? Keep in jail? We don't need to be imprisoning people for crap like this. No point in it.

They work to pay it off.


I'm not big on putting people in jail who shouldn't. However, if you deserve jail time work to pay for it. The more they pay for it, the less burden on the tax payer.

[UNI88]

And if they don't have the money to pay? Keep in jail? We don't need to be imprisoning people for crap like this. No point in it.

They work to pay it off.


I'm not big on putting people in jail who shouldn't. However, if you deserve jail time work to pay for it. The more they pay for it, the less burden on the tax payer.

What do they work on? If it is something that private industry makes/does, you'll get a ton of compaints from businesses about unfair competition.

[TwinTownBisonFan]

And if they don't have the money to pay? Keep in jail? We don't need to be imprisoning people for crap like this. No point in it.

They work to pay it off.


I'm not big on putting people in jail who shouldn't. However, if you deserve jail time work to pay for it. The more they pay for it, the less burden on the tax payer.

In prison, working is oddly enough a privilege that is earned for good behavior...

[travelinman67]

And if they don't have the money to pay? Keep in jail? We don't need to be imprisoning people for crap like this. No point in it.

They work to pay it off.


I'm not big on putting people in jail who shouldn't. However, if you deserve jail time work to pay for it. The more they pay for it, the less burden on the tax payer.

Don't confuse jail with prison. Virtually all prisons incorporate "work education/rehabilitation" for which the inmates are paid. Jails often only have "trustee" positions which allow them priviliges and extra perks, but no pay. Not saying all jails don't have paid positions, but it isn't the same as state/federal prisons.

This doesn't negate the essence of this debate...that no person in a modern civil society should be jailed for being poor and unable to pay their bills. That's a draconian concept that was eliminated with Feudalism.

[clenz]

They work to pay it off.


I'm not big on putting people in jail who shouldn't. However, if you deserve jail time work to pay for it. The more they pay for it, the less burden on the tax payer.

This doesn't negate the essence of this debate...that no person in a modern civil society should be jailed for being poor and unable to pay their bills. That's a draconian concept that was eliminated with Feudalism.

That I am not, and won't debate.

[TwinTownBisonFan]

They work to pay it off.


I'm not big on putting people in jail who shouldn't. However, if you deserve jail time work to pay for it. The more they pay for it, the less burden on the tax payer.

Don't confuse jail with prison. Virtually all prisons incorporate "work education/rehabilitation" for which the inmates are paid. Jails often only have "trustee" positions which allow them priviliges and extra perks, but no pay. Not saying all jails don't have paid positions, but it isn't the same as state/federal prisons.

This doesn't negate the essence of this debate...that no person in a modern civil society should be jailed for being poor and unable to pay their bills. That's a draconian concept that was eliminated with Feudalism.

I'm officially calling hell to see if it's snowing... something we agree on... who knew?

[travelinman67]

Don't confuse jail with prison. Virtually all prisons incorporate "work education/rehabilitation" for which the inmates are paid. Jails often only have "trustee" positions which allow them priviliges and extra perks, but no pay. Not saying all jails don't have paid positions, but it isn't the same as state/federal prisons.

This doesn't negate the essence of this debate...that no person in a modern civil society should be jailed for being poor and unable to pay their bills. That's a draconian concept that was eliminated with Feudalism.

I'm officially calling hell to see if it's snowing... something we agree on... who knew?

I hear it's snowing in Wisconsin tonight...

[AZGrizFan]

I'm officially calling hell to see if it's snowing... something we agree on... who knew?

I hear it's snowing in Wisconsin tonight...

Same difference.