It's like something out of Charles Dickens, people being thrown into prison because of debts they cannot pay. In Florida, in Michigan, in Nevada, also Ireland and England, we are seeing a resurrection of the 19th century practice of throwing into jail people whose only crime is being in debt. This is part of a movement by usurers. In 2005 bankruptcy laws were tightened. Thus far, it seems, debtor prison is not wide spread and is reserved for people who owe money to local governments but it does mark another decline in egalitarian democracy and a return to a society dominated by an aristocracy.On a related note, Utah ($40 a day) and Florida ($50 a day) and perhaps other states, charge prisoners a fee for the time they are imprisoned. If they fail to pay their Jail Debt they face being sent back behind bars, where they will fall still further in debt to the state.
Hat tip to piccup at Daily Kos. There is also this blogger who is either a font of information or a disgusting vulture, you decide.
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