We Still Have Debtors Prisons
As long as the creditor is government. This is Alex Tabbarok, writing at Marginal Revolution:
Debtor’s prisons are supposed to be illegal in the United States but today poor people who fail to pay even small criminal justice fees are routinely being imprisoned. The problem has gotten worse recently because strapped states have dramatically increased the number of criminal justice fees…
Many states are now even charging the accused to apply for and use a public defender! As a result, some defendants are discouraged from exercising their rights to an attorney.
Here is a video interviewworth watching.
This problem is getting out of control.
My problem with the existence of debtor’s prisons is that they’re not used more often. Who should be imprisoned? I’d start with people who can pay their bills but abuse the system. People who refuse to pay their students loans despite making good incomes. People who lose in small claims court but refuse to comply. Oh, and strategic mortgage defaults. Here is a great example of someone who should probably be in debtor’s prison.
Great post. Interesting points.