See, e.g., Letter from Mark Silverstein, Legal Dir., ACLU of Colo., and Rebecca T. Wallace, Staff Atty, ACLU of Colo., to Chief Justice Michael Bender, Colo. Supreme Court, and Judge John Dailey, Chair, Criminal Procedure Comm. Courts, however, did make clear that the legislature couldnt criminalize the mere nonpayment of commercial debt as a constitutional workaround. See State v. Thierfelder, 495 N.W.2d 669, 673 (Wis. 1993); see also Wis. Stat. (9 Allen) 489 (1864)). Second, even in states that allow contempt proceedings, most courts require a sharply limited (and debtor-favorable) inquiry. ^ This includes the state constitutional bans of Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Minnesota, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Washington, and Wyoming. debtors' prisons in the United States as they existed in the early years of the Republic. ^ See, e.g., Shepard, supra note 6, at 153132. For example, violations of municipal ordinances boil down to the regulatory crimes category in states where municipalities are not empowered to imprison. 1, 11; Ga. Const. II, 18 (There shall be no imprisonment for debt, except in cases of fraud.). ^ See, e.g., Nicholas M. McLean, Livelihood, Ability to Pay, and the Original Meaning of the Excessive Fines Clause, 40 Hastings Const. ^ See id. VI, 15 (No person shall be imprisoned for debt arising out of or founded upon a contract.). at 256 (citing Barnes v. State, 19 Conn. 398 (1849)). Given that we are looking at a substantial sales tax shortfall, its not an insignificant issue.44, In 2013, the municipal court issued over 9000 warrants for failure to pay fines and fees resulting in large part from minor violations such as parking infractions, traffic tickets, or housing code violations.45 The city also tacked on fines and fees for missed appearances and missed payments and used arrest warrants as a collection device.46, The problem has become especially severe or has at least drawn increased attention within the past several years.47 In 2015, nonprofits Equal Justice Under Law and ArchCity Defenders sued the cities of Ferguson48 and Jennings,49 Missouri, alleging that they were running the equivalents of modern debtors prisons.50 The Ferguson complaint described a Kafkaesque journey through the debtors prison network of Saint Louis County a lawless and labyrinthine scheme of dungeon-like municipal facilities and perpetual debt.51 Equal Justice Under Law and the Southern Poverty Law Center have also sued a handful of other municipalities,52 and the ACLU has pursued an awareness campaign in a number of states, sending letters to judges and mayors in Ohio53 and Colorado.54. art. art. Sch. I, 19; Kan. Const. If debtors imprisonment is unconstitutional, why does it happen? 448, 448 (La. if the judgment debtor unjustly refuses to apply the identified property towards the satisfaction of a judgment; however, the court struck it down under the ban on imprisonment for debt when contempt was used to require the judgment debtor to set aside and deliver a portion of his/her future income toward the satisfaction of the judgment debt. Id. at 132. ^ See, e.g., Alec Karakatsanis, Policing, Mass Imprisonment, and the Failure of American Lawyers, 128 Harv. Alec Karakatsanis, a lawyer who last year brought one of the only lawsuits to successfully challenge a local court system for jailing indigent debtors, says that the first step was the normalization of incarceration. In the United States, debtors prisons were banned under federal law in 1833. Many Californians do not have valid drivers licenses because they cannot afford to pay the exorbitant fines and fees associated with a routine traffic citation. See id. ^ For a similar analysis, see State v. Anton, 463 A.2d 703, 70607 (Me. 938.29(4) (2015) (specifying that such debtors shall not be denied any of the protections afforded any other civil judgment debtor). But aside from clear policy concerns, they may violate constitutional laws at both the federal and state levels. For both regulatory offenses and costs, a reviewing court must assess and characterize the debt as civil or quasi-civil for the purposes of coverage under the state ban. 1976) (en banc); Zeitinger v. Mitchell, 244 S.W.2d 91, 9798 (Mo. 558.006 by Act effective Jan. 1, 2017, 2014 Mo. . The doctrinal carve-outs for crime suggest that the state bans wouldnt apply to criminal justice debt. In these cases, the creditor a predatory lender, a landlord, or a utility provider or a debt collector (hired by the creditor) may bypass bankruptcy court and take the debtor straight to civil court. Instead, Sanders, who lives in Illinois, was arrested and taken to jail. Nearly two centuries ago, the United States formally abolished the incarceration of people who failed to pay off debts. ^ See Settlement Agreement, Mitchell v. Montgomery, supra note 52, at 23. See . for the enforcement of a judgment.); Mo. See id. ^ Fuller v. Oregon, 417 U.S. 40, 42 (1974). at 13233 (The statutes vary widely in their terms. Id. ^ Complaint, Cleveland v. Montgomery, supra note 14, at 4. at 558 (arguing that mens rea, like the act requirement, becomes little more than a point of orientation. ^ While outside the scope of analysis here, Professor Beth Colgan has argued that incarceration for criminal justice debt might also violate the Excessive Fines Clause of the Eighth Amendment. Complaint, Fant v. Ferguson, supra note 48, at 53 (arguing governments may not take advantage of their position to impose unduly harsh methods of collection); Complaint, Jenkins v. Jennings, supra note 24, at 5859 (same). art. 1055, 109899 (2015). art. Dir., ACLU of Ohio, et al., to Chief Justice Maureen OConnor, Ohio Supreme Court (Apr. art. ^ See id. For one, indigent debtors do not know whom to negotiate with the DMV, which mailed the speeding ticket, or the debt collector that now seems to be pursuing the matter. (5 Gray) 530, 532 (1855); Eams v. Stevens, 26 N.H. 117, 120 (1852); Whitney v. Johnson, 12 Wend. 334, 34546 (2001). Read More. A century and a half later, in 1983, the Supreme Court affirmed that incarcerating indigent debtors was unconstitutional under the Fourteenth Amendment's Equal Protection clause. See Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol and Other Christmas Books 7172 (Robert Douglas-Fairhurst ed., Oxford Univ. As of October 2015, the case had survived a contentious motion to dismiss the judge had initially dismissed, then reconsidered and reinstated, two allegations of unconstitutional imprisonment for debt and was moving toward trial. XIII; Class Action Complaint at 5758, Jenkins v. City of Jennings, No. art. art. ^ Id. at 855. 939.12 (2014) (defining crime). ^ See, e.g., Robertson, supra note 3 (describing how a debtors mother and sister scraped together what money they [could]). Debtors prisons were outlawed in the United States nearly 200 years ago. ^ See, e.g., Alicia Bannon et al., Brennan Ctr. ^ See generally Francis Bowes Sayre, Public Welfare Offenses, 33 Colum. ^ See Class Action Complaint, Fant v. City of Ferguson, No. The prevailing sentiment reflected a view that the inability . But how could that be? Though de jure debtors prisons are a thing of the past, de facto debtors imprisonment is not. Stat. This Part lays out how the state law protections would differ from the federal protections, and why having multiple levels of protection makes sense. . Id. Did the United States abolished debtors prisons in 1929? 1983); Kansas City v. Stricklin, 428 S.W.2d 721, 72526 (Mo. Yet Hall was critiquing a blind adherence to mens rea as a ubiquitous doctrine in criminal law. art. Bd. the united states abolished debtors' prisons in 1929. In February 2014, the Supreme Court of Ohio released a new "bench card" giving much-needed instructions to Ohio judges to explain how to avoid debtors' prison practices in their courtrooms. As much of the furor regarding contemporary debtors prisons revolves around municipalities, this is no minor point. ^ See Bearden v. Georgia, 461 U.S. 660, 672 (1983). ^ See, e.g., State v. Hopp, 190 N.W.2d 836, 837 (Iowa 1971); In re Wheeler, 8 P. 276, 27778 (Kan. 1885). at 5. ^ See id. . Debt collection practices like these have had a devastating impact on people of color in the Atlanta metropolitan area. . . Eventually, federal debtors' prisons were abolished in 1833, leaving the power to implement debtors' prisons in the hands of the states, many of which followed Washington's lead. . Since the 1990s, and increasingly in the wake of the Great Recession, many municipalities, forced to operate under tight budgetary constraints, have turned to the criminal justice system as an untapped revenue stream.1 Raising the specter of the debtors prisons once prevalent in the United States,2 imprisonment for failure to pay debts owed to the state has provoked growing concern in recent years.3 These monetary obligations are not contractual liabilities in the ledger of an Ebenezer Scrooge,4 but sums that the state itself assesses through the criminal justice system. Accessibility, A Christmas Carol and Other Christmas Books, The Collapse of American Criminal Justice, Investigation of the Ferguson Police Department, Criminal Justice Debt: A Barrier to Reentry, In for a Penny: The Rise of Americas New Debtors Prisons, Office of Judicial Servs., Supreme Court of Ohio, Collection of Fines and Court Costs in Adult Trial Courts, http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/18/us/suit-alleges-scheme-in-criminal-costs-borne-by-new-orleanss-poor.html, http://aclu-wa.org/sites/default/files/attachments/Modern%20Day%20Debtor%27s%20Prison%20Final%20(3).pdf, http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/06/23/get-out-of-jail-inc, http://www.splcenter.org/sites/default/files/downloads/case/amended_complaint-_harriet_cleveland_0.pdf, http://www.splcenter.org/sites/default/files/downloads/case/exhibit_a_to_joint_settlement_agreement_-_judicial_procedures-_140912.pdf, http://equaljusticeunderlaw.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Complaint-Jennings-Debtors-Prisons-FILE-STAMPED.pdf, http://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/opa/press-releases/attachments/2015/03/04/ferguson_police_department_report.pdf, https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/us0214_ForUpload_0.pdf, http://www.brennancenter.org/sites/default/files/legacy/Fees%20and%20Fines%20FINAL.pdf, https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/2455850/15-10-09-class-action-complaint-stamped.pdf, http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/20/us/for-offenders-who-cant-pay-its-a-pint-of-blood-or-jail-time.html. 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the united states abolished debtors' prisons in 1929