If you get convicted for embezzlement, as in the first example in the article, and don't pay your fines and restitution, what do you think the courts should do?
Hell, shut down the restitution centers and use that budget to help cover court fees instead!
Think about it: if someone gets fined $10,000 and is working minimum wage, is there really anything good accomplished by trying to recover that much? Just cap out some wage garnishment scheme if you want to fine them.
She also skipped her meeting with her probation officer, more than once, and she didn't report to the probation officer (or the court, whatever) that she got an increase in income, when she got her job at Harrah's. Funny, that.
They don't mention that in the article, do they.
Here's the hearing transcript: https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/6598211-Annita-Husba...
- even if they are just about that, do you think that a debtors prison is going to get that money back sooner?
- given how being broke in America is basically a death sentence, I have empathy for people trying to scrape by
- (now we’re in income reporting reform!) why isn’t Harrahs reporting the wage increase? Why even give opportunities for lies/mistakes/omissions?
Even if what you said is true, putting people in jail is not super ethical nor is it useful at accomplishing much for society, for the individuals involved, and “punishment as deference” is disproved so much.
Not seeing the argument for this programs continued existence
That's just criminalizing being poor.
Every crime has a monetary value. Once someone has gone to prison and paid their debt to society, is there any good reason according to you that we shouldn't then throw them in another prison until they pay restitution?
Hell, maybe it's even a good thing that silcon valley could disrupt. Let's have companies skim a bit off the top and build smart prisons. They get to spend longer in debtor prison and others earn more money, it's a win/win.
Not to mention, you know, the actual debt that she owed.
What I'm talking about is that these sort of facilities shouldn't exist at all, full stop. Do you think that people that say, couldn't afford to pay their speeding ticket right away should be thrown into prison until they pay their debt?
It sounds to me like they’re actually trying to rehabilitate her. How much of her 7 year sentence has she actually served?