As a follow-up to Part I of this article on debtors’ prisons, we cite an article from Yahoo Finance by Alain Sherter. The reporter tells the story of how a breast cancer survivor was handcuffed by Illinois State Troopers and taken to jail. The Associated Press reports that the woman “…got a $280 medical bill in error and was told she didn’t have to pay it. But the bill was turned over to a collection agency, and eventually state troopers showed up at her home and took her to jail in handcuffs.”

From the same AP report, “Although the U.S. abolished debtors’ prisons in the 1830s, more than a third of U.S. states allow the police to haul people in who don’t pay all manner of debts, from bills for health care services to credit card and auto loans. In parts of Illinois, debt collectors commonly use publicly funded courts, sheriff’s deputies, and country jails to pressure people who owe even small amounts to pay up…” Wow, I thought this sort of il-legal system was only true in Charles Dickens novels.

According to the law, debtors are not actually arrested for nonpayment; instead they are  apprehended for not responding to court hearings, paying legal fines or otherwise showing ‘contempt of court’ in conjunction with a creditor lawsuit. This giant loophole is precisely why Illinois lawmakers are hoping to pass HB 5434, which would make it illegal to send residents of the state to jail if they can’t pay a debt.

In a statement last month from Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, “Creditors have been manipulating the court system to extract money from the unemployed, veterans, even seniors who rely solely on their benefits to get by each month. Too many people have been thrown in jail simply because they’re too poor to pay their debts. We cannot allow these illegal abuses to continue.”

Illinois is not the only state where you can get put in jail merely for owing money. According to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) “The sad truth is that debtors’ prisons are flourishing today, more than two decades after the Supreme Court prohibited imprisoning those who are too poor to pay their legal debts. In this era of shrinking budgets, state and local governments have turned aggressively to using the threat and reality of imprisonment to squeeze revenue out of the poorest defendants who appear in their courts.”

Some states also apply ‘poverty penalties’, including late fees, payment plan fees and interest when people are unable to pay all their debts at once, according to a report by the New York University’s Brennan Center for Justice. Such practices, which have increased in recent years due to the recession, amount to criminalizing poverty, say critics in urging federal authorities to intervene.

If you receive a call from a debt collection agency pestering you for money, demand proof that you do indeed owe the debt. If you are still unsure how to proceed, call the skilled bankruptcy attorneys from Jacoby Meyers Bankruptcy Law six days a week and evenings toll-free at 1-800-260-1402 for your initial complimentary consultation. For more information, log onto our new user-friendly and interactive site www.jacobymeyersbankruptcy.com. Do not let aggressive debt collectors bully you. Filing bankruptcy stops those frightening calls.