Debtor's Prison Back in Business
Life in these prisons, however, was far from pleasant and the inmates were forced to pay for their keep. Samuel Byrom, son of writer and poet, John Byrom, was imprisoned for debt in Fleet Prison in 1725, and in 1729 he sent a petition to his old school friend, The Duke of Dorset, in which raged against the injustices of the system:
"What barbarity can be greater than for gaolers (without provocation) to load prisoners with irons, and thrust them into dungeons, and manacle them, and deny their friends to visit them, and force them to pay excessive fines for their chamber rent, their victuals and drinks; to open their letters and seize the charity that is sent to them! And when debtors have succedd in arranging with their creditors, hundreds are detained in prison for chamber-rent and other unjust demands put forward by their gaolers, so that at last, in their despair, many are driven to commit suicide...gaolers should be paid a fixed salary and forbidden, under pain of instant dismissal, to accept bribe, fee or reward of any kind...law of imprisonment for debts influicts a greater loss on the country, in the way of wasted power and energies, than do monasteries and nunneries in foreign lands, and among Roman-Catholic peoples...Holland, the most unpolite country in the world, uses debors with mildness and malefactors with rigour; England, on the other hand, shows mercy to murderers and robbers, but of poor debtors impossibilities are demanded...Manchester Times 22 October 1862" ' (Source)
It is ironic that judges would throw debtors in prison, depriving them of their livelihood and ability to pay, while, at the same time, increasing the burden on the taxpayer to house and feed the prisoner. But, Satanic Psychopathic Bankers will be Satanic Psychopathic Bankers. Spreading as much stupidity and misery across the fruited plains as allowable. The debtor's prison is making a comeback in these United States:
"As a sheriff's deputy dumped the contents of Joy Uhlmeyer's purse into a sealed bag, she begged to know why she had just been arrested while driving home to Richfield after an Easter visit with her elderly mother.
No one had an answer. Uhlmeyer spent a sleepless night in a frigid Anoka County holding cell, her hands tucked under her armpits for warmth. Then, handcuffed in a squad car, she was taken to downtown Minneapolis for booking. Finally, after 16 hours in limbo, jail officials fingerprinted Uhlmeyer and explained her offense -- missing a court hearing over an unpaid debt. "They have no right to do this to me," said the 57-year-old patient care advocate, her voice as soft as a whisper."Not for a stupid credit card." '(Source)
The Minnesota legal system has now turned into an official debt collection agency for the Banksters and Lawyers:
"It's not a crime to owe money, and debtors' prisons were abolished in the United States in the 19th century. But people are routinely being thrown in jail for failing to pay debts. In Minnesota, which has some of the most creditor-friendly laws in the country, the use of arrest warrants against debtors has jumped 60 percent over the past four years, with 845 cases in 2009, a Star Tribune analysis of state court data has found.
Not every warrant results in an arrest, but in Minnesota many debtors spend up to 48 hours in cells with criminals. Consumer attorneys say such arrests are increasing in many states, including Arkansas, Arizona and Washington, driven by a bad economy, high consumer debt and a growing industry that buys bad debts and employs every means available to collect.
So, how does a Creditor, dealing in "unsecured" debt like credit cards, get the Court to enforce collection of a loan that has no collateral or enforcement provisions?
1. Credit Card companies sell bad debts for pennies on the dollar to law firms. Banks have insurance to cover these debts, and also benefit from the full write-off. They are, in essence, made whole.
2. The legal firms do their best to get the consumer to validate the debt (admit that it is theirs) so that they can go to Court and obtain a Judgment. How a an unsecured debt, which has no enforceable payment provision, becomes a secure debt through a Court Order, remains one of life's great mysteries.
3. With Judgment in hand, lawyers are free to place a lien on homes, garnish wages and secure other assets, even though the creditor's original agreement with the Credit Card company states very clearly that the debt was unsecured. Credit card companies offset their risk through higher interest rates on their products because they have no other way of guaranteeing payment! Unless, of course, they can prove fraud. Non-payment, by the way, is not fraud.
4. The Legal firm will write off any debts at their full value (even though they only paid pennies on the dollar), thus making a profit on the write-off. They can also resell the debt to other law firms or collection agencies.
5. By law, a credit card debt that goes unpaid should be removed from a person's credit report after 7 years have passed since the last payment. Through reselling these debts and reporting as a new debtor, the collection agencies illegally take the original debt past the 7 year mark and can be sued by a consumer for damages under the Fair Credit Reporting Act. I have done this, and won.
To throw an individual in prison for non-payment of an unsecured debt is one of the ultimate manifestations of criminal insanity. Especially since the original creditor has already been satisfied by insurance and write-offs, and the debt is "unsecured". The result of this practice is ultimately forced labor camps and indentured servants, something that was done to the freed black slaves in the "Anti-Bellum" South and also in Medieval Europe:
"During Europe's Middle Ages, debtors, both men and women, were locked up together in a single large cell, until their families paid their debt. Debt prisoners often died of disease contracted from other debt prisoners. Conditions included starvation and abuse from other prisoners. If the father of a family was imprisoned for debt, the family business often suffered while the mother and children fell into poverty. Unable to pay the debt, the father often remained in debtors' prison for many years. Some debt prisoners were released to become serfs or indentured servants (debt bondage) until they paid off their debt in labor."
Its ironic that corporations can repudiate billions of dollars in unpaid debts through bankruptcy and other proceedings without consequence, yet, there is no such hope for the poor sap that looses his job, income and ability to pay. One of the reasons that I promote debt repudiation services like FreetoProsper.com.
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