In jail for being in debt

[BridgeTheGap]

You committed no crime, but an officer is knocking on your door. More Minnesotans are surprised to find themselves being locked up over debts.

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."

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.

http://www.startribune.com/local/95692619.html

[ParkieDem]

1. How in the hell is this legal?

And, in a relatively progressive state like Minnesota (with a strong history of farming and agriculture), I'm surprised that laws there are so creditor-friendly.

[NoNothing]

2. I don't know of any state

Where you can blow off subpoenas and not expect a bench warrant.

[BridgeTheGap]

4. On debts, most states don't take legal action beyond judgments if you don't show up.

They'll allow debtors to attach whatever they can to recoup the debt though.
It's actually better to show up. Make them cough up any original agreements you signed. That alone often leaves the creditor (third party usually) dead in the water.

[Warpy]

3. It's also the state that has kept Michelle Bachmann in office

so it's not as progressive as it once was. Likely the Republicans have poisoned its once progressive laws over the past 30 years.

[happyslug]

5. discussed on STOCK MARKET WATCH, Wednesday June 9

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x4419350#4419788