Why do 'they' imprison people who owe money?

Question

If they're in jail/prison--how are they going to pay, then?

PEOPLE!!!--What about people who don't pay their parking tickets and other fines--I've seen them go!!! I've also seen bad check-writers go.

I saw someone go for failing to pay child support--I'm sure I'll think of more...

Answer 1

Assuming you live in the USA and you are referencing the USA, there are no debtor's prisons in the USA and a debtor can file bankruptcy. It is in our own constitution. We also allow people who have serious debt to hold professional licenses and political office unlike other countries. And we are probably more debt tolerant than other countries.

With that being said, a bill collector calling up and harassing you at home and work and all of the hurdles of filing bankruptcy now, a debtor may actually feel like he is in prison. A debtor can write the bill collectors by certified mail, and stop the calling (although they can't stop the bills from coming in or and does not stop the interest rate from accruing on the original debt). If the bill collector continues to call and the debtor can document the calls, the debtor then has rights against the creditor and should find a lawyer. Or a debtor can go bankrupt or to consumer counseling or make an offer in compromise or wherever. At the same time, a creditor can sue the debtor, can garnish up to a certain portion of a debtor's wages in some states (not all and that portion varies by state--still not all of the wages can be garnished) and a debtor's nonexempt property can be seized by a credtior to satisfy a debt. Usually in most states, a judgment has to be finalized before a debtor's property can be seized for most instances. A bill collector or a creditor is also limited by what they can seize property wise from a debtor. BUT STILL A DEBTOR WILL NOT GO TO JAIL FOR NOT PAYING THE DEBT. IF ANY BILL COLLECTOR THREATENS JAIL, DOCUMENT IT AND RUN TO A LAWYER IMMEDIATELY. A BILL COLLECTOR CAN NEVER THREATEN JAIL/PRISON.


Let's talk about the types of debts you mentioned and why they go to jail.

Children are entitled to be supported by both parents. Children are especially protected by law and by the government. If they cannot be supported by their parents, the government will subsidize an entitlement to assist. You don't want your children starving on the streets and neither does the government. Both parents have an obligation to support their children. If a parent cannot support his child, he or she has to explain why to a court at some point. This is a type of debt that never goes away, except possibly after the statute of limitations has passed after the child is grown. Also, if the government subsidizes an entitlement, they are entitled to get their money back. If a parent is truly unable to pay their court ordered or agreed on child support for whatever reason, perhaps they are incapacitated, or for whatever reason, they will not go to jail. But, it is up to that parent who is not paying to go to Court and prove they cannot pay and that paying would put them out on the street or let them die since they can't afford their lifesaving medicine. Most people go to jail for nonpayment of child support due to the fact that they ignore the problem, fail to go to court to prove the amounts have to be lowered or prove they can't pay and so the problem gets worse, they move off, they work under the table, try to justify or rationalize why they aren't going to court to do the right thing, but eventually, the world catches up to them. Not dealing with the problem of not being able to pay and just running away is why most of the people who do not pay go to jail. Or, they go to jail since they chose to ignore the requirement to pay for whatever reason such as they harbor resentment against the other parent and rather than deal with the issue, they ignore it and wind up in jail. If someone can't pay their child support, they need to find a lawyer or represent themselves and return to court to explain why.

Parking fines--Many parking fines occur for parking in a handicapped spot, parking in a fire zone or some place like that. They are specially marked zones for other's safety that you can't park in. In many of these states, this would be a class c misdeameanor which is a criminal charge lke most tickets are in most states. Class C misdemeanors are usually punished by fine only, not by jail. The US Supreme Court has ruled that a person who can't pay a fine for these types of crimes since they are truly unable to pay will not go to jail. But they have to prove to the court that they cannot pay. Some places even have volunteer work or community service to work off such fines and if you can't pay, this is one way to work it off. Some places actually also rather than deal with the hassle of someone not paying will offer jail to the offender credit equal to a set amount (where I live it is 100 dollars a day) to offset the fine. But if you can't truly pay and you can prove it even after a few resets by the court, that you still can't pay and if there is no way to work off the fine, you will not go to jail unless you do it voluntarily just to be done with the fine. Where most people get into trouble, is that they blow off the parking fine, and ignore the court date or shrug it off thinking it is just a fine. Igorning a court date on a ticket, even a parking ticket is always a bad idea and a warrant gets issued. Eventually, the offender gets stopped for something else like running a red light or speeding or whatever, and the warrant is there on the cop's computer and you go to jail for a parking ticket or any other type of fine that you ignored. Or perhaps they forgot about it or got scared since they forgot about it or got scared that they didn't have the money and just didn't go to court to explain why they didn't pay. And some cities, will send out periodically someone to execute on their parking and traffice ticket warrants where people ignored the ticket and the court date.

IRS debts: No the IRS will not put you into jail for non payment if you truly can't pay. If they think you can pay some and you ignore them, they may execute on your nonexempt property or money and use the funds to satisfy their debt. Where people get into trouble here is they owe and they get scared and so they stop filling their returns (Which is a crime) or they lie to the IRS (bad thing is to lie to any governmental entity, if you can't discuss the issue or need to exercise your right to remain silent, get a lawyer or request a lawyer--but never never lie to the government). The IRS will work out a repayment plan or a foregiveness plan or a percentage plan or an offer in compromise, and many many debts have statute of limitations running that may bar collections for the debt. But if you don't file, you are in trouble and not filing does not help as to the Statute of Limitations defense. You have to keep in touch with them.

Hot checks--it is a crime to intentionally write a hot check for any amount.--it is called theft. The days of trying to float a check until your paycheck is depositied are long gone, even WalMart will cash a check now on the day it is written. Some people though can't add and subtract a checkbook or their checks gets stolen or whatever and they bounce a check. Most states require that the creditor on a hot check send out a notice (in some states this notice does not have to be by certified mail) to the address on the check. If you have moved, it is up to you to change your checks and your bank address. It is up to you to insure your account is closed if you close it out. It is up to you to pick up the certified mail. The bank sends out notices when a check bounces, many times before the creditor knows your check bounced. You know when your checks bounce. You get bank statements also that show when a check bounces. That notice is to give you time to make the check good in case it was an overight on your part. And even then many prosecutors of hot checks will send out yet another notice to give you time once they get the check from the creditor to pay before they pursue charges. It never a good idea to ignore those notice letters since most credtors and proseuctor's offices just want the money and will work out a payment plan if you do it. Now, if you break the payment plan, well you maybe in trouble since you never should have written the check anyway. Some people write the check for food or emergency medical services, but this is still theft. You can get food or foof stamps if you are truly broke and you hospitals have to treat you for emergencies if you are broke.

So, really, debts is not the reason the people you referenced are imprisoned. Most go to jail for ignoring the problem, ignoring their obligations or intentionally blowing the problem off. Short of severe mental illness, there are very few reasons to justifiy blowing these situations off. Being scared is not an excuse either. Igoring the certified mail or failing to pick up the certified mail is not a good idea either since once the letter is sent by certified mail that is usually enough for the other end to prove they gave you notice and in many places, a notice does not require certified mail, just simple mail is enough. It may seem like they are going to prison for being unable to pay, but in actuality, they are not. Not dealing with obligations or problems is the reason why they go to jail. You will never go to jail for being broke.

If you are truly unable to pay and it is choice between paying the parking ticket and you living on the street or paying the IRS or child support or you getting the prescription you need to stay alive, you will not go to jail, but be prepared to prove you are that broke. Igoring the problem doesn't work.

Answer 2

1

Answer 3

Child support is one area where as people do get sent to prison if they fall behind. If it a credit card or a loan no then they don't. If it is for not paying fines yes, the two yess's come down to contempt of court.

Answer 4

Child support, you go to jail for. If you write checks KNOWING that an account is closed, that is criminal, and you can also go to jail for that.

However, getting laid off from your job and you find out you can't make your Visa payment anymore? No, you don't go to jail for that....they haven't done that in probably 40 or 50 years.

Answer 5

A long time ago that was a massive problem. Dorothy Cox, a famous woman in the 1800's, said the same thing. But now, I believe u can work while your in prison. They drive you to where you work and i beleive you are escorted by police.

>I think this may depend on the job tho...

hope it helps :)

(&& look the woman i put up there up. It may tell you what happened after she told the world)

Answer 6

First, "they" don't imprison people who owe money unless the money is owed from criminal activity. Debtor's prisons went out of style some 200 years ago.

Answer 7

The US eliminated debtors prison in the Constitution.

However, you can go to jail for purjury, theft, fraud or contempt of court which is what some debtors do when they attempt to evade creditors who properly use the judicial system. So in essence, it is not bad to borrow money. It is bad to do it to lie, cheat, steal or defraud.

Answer 8

Who is "they"? The US does not have debtor's prisons. If you're talking about the IRS, sometimes people do go to prison for willful tax evasion, not for owing. If you owe, but file your return properly, they might take your assets or garnish your wages, but you don't go to prison.

Answer 9

i did not know that in the U.S. we had debtors prisons. the only one that I thought you could go to jail for owing money to was the government. they do this so they can be sure of collecting their money. unfortunatly, or fortunatly, depending on how you look at it, a business doesn' t get to do that .

Am I wrong about this ?

Answer 10

If you are in the US, you cannot be jailed for owing a debt.

Answer 11

We don't have debtors prison. Are you perhaps still living in the 1700s?

:-)