Florida--overdue court fees. Ya goin' to jail.

[Rman]

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Valerie Gainous paid her debt to society, but almost went to jail because of a debt to Florida’s courts.

In 1996, she was convicted of writing bad checks; she paid restitution, performed community service and thought she was finished with the criminal justice system. Earlier this year, however, she received a letter from Collections Court telling her that she was once again facing jail time — this time, for failing to pay $240 in leftover court fees and fines, which she says she cannot afford.

Ms. Gainous has been caught up in her state’s exceptionally aggressive system to collect the court fines and fees that keep its judiciary system working. Judges themselves dun citizens who have fallen behind in their payments, but unlike other creditors, they can throw debtors in jail — and they do, by the thousands.

As Florida’s budget has tightened with the economic crisis, efforts to step up the collections process have intensified, and court clerks say the pressure is on them to bring in every dollar. “I would say there is an even more dramatic focus on those funds now,” said Beth Allman, the spokeswoman for the Florida Association of Court Clerks.

Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/07/us/07collection.html?ref=us

Would it be cheaper to set up repayment plan instead processing someone to go jail? 

[BlueTsunami]

2G2D keeps getting more depressing

[Beezy]

2G2D keeps getting more depressing

Me and a friend saw an old lady delivering Domino's pizza today. 2G2D indeed.

[Fragamemnon]

Good old Tallahassee. Definitely a city with a very neglected set of working poor, and the white flight of the town northward over the last two decades has been nothing short of breathtaking.

[Tauntaun]

FL   

[drozmight]

good idea... throw them in jail so they can't pay the court fees at all lol...

[Veidt]

2G2D keeps getting more depressing

Statement of truth. My economics classroom keeps getting more and more depressing

[Flannel Boy]

Restricting people's access to the judicial system through the employment of user fees doesn't make sense. And throwing people into jail for small fines instead of devising alternative payment plans or creating alternative forms of punishment, such as community service, for those who are unable to afford the fines sure as hell doesn't make sense. It's also unjust: the fines and fees cause the poor to suffer while the rich are unaffected.

[Eric P]

go tell it to the mountain, hippie

[Flannel Boy]

I'm not a hippie. Don't let my avatar, my musical taste, and my long, free-flowing pubic hair fool you.