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No More Debtors' Prison: Texas to offer community service to those who can't pay fines for minor ...
No More Debtors' Prison: Texas to offer community service to those who can't pay fines for minor offensesWhen this country was founded an individual could be sent to prison if a debt was owed and could not be paid. And there the debtor would stay until the amount owed was worked off, or a friend or family member could come up with the money.
It was a holdover from merry old England, which in those days wasn't always so merry.
The federal government outlawed debtors' prisons in 1833, but that didn't end the practice in the various states. It wasn't until after the Civil War that the practice disappeared.
Mostly.
Today, though, many argue states are running the equivalent of debtors' prisons to collect fines owed for minor infractions such as speeding, running a stop sign or public intoxication.
Read more: http://www.texarkanagazette.com/news/opinion/editorials/story/2017/jul/25/no-more-debtors-prison-texas-offer-community-service-those-who-cant-pay-fines-minor-offenses/683520/
