The ACLU says debtor’s prison is not only back, it’s flourishing.
An Illinois breast cancer survivor recently learned this the hard way when she ignored a medical bill she didn‘t owe. After it was mistakenly turned over to a collection agency, police showed up at her door with handcuffs, and she ended up paying twice the original amount to escape prison.
ACLU says this was illegal whether the bill was owed or not, because in 1983 the Supreme Court ruled that imprisoning someone because of poverty would be fundamentally unfair - a violation of the Fourteenth Amendment. But now with the economic crisis, more state and county governments are using prison, or the threat of it, to collect debts from people unable to pay them. Additional prison terms are also being imposed on those who’ve done time but can’t pay related fees.
What was once a War on Poverty has turned into a cruel War on America's Poor
Tell your representatives to end to this war and debtor’s prison for good.
We, the undersigned, are shocked and outraged by ACLU’s and other reports on the revival of debtor’s prison in America.
It is as if the US has wiped out the progress of centuries of social reform - as if it were not hardship enough for the public to bear the brunt of the current financial crisis, created in large part by corrupt activities of wealthy bankers, without further crushing them under the heels of authority.
It is outrageous enough that people are losing homes and livelihoods and are facing bad credit that further prevents their ability to find work and dig themselves out of holes they were pushed into.
It is up to Congress to put an end to this war on the poor before it gets further out of hand.
We request that our leaders take immediate action to stop local governments from committing these illegal and cruel acts against U.S. citizens.
