According to Wikipedia, Debtors' Prisons were established for those unable to pay a debt and have been noted throughout history, but particularly in Great Britain and the United Kingdom during the 18th century.
Although some inmates were more fortunate than others [dependent on the amount of money they had], inmates were forced to pay for their keep [and if an individual incurred the wrath of their jailor, they could be forced into manacles, dungeons, unjust demands or worse...]
The explanation went on to state that in despair, many were driven to suicide.
Although the Debtor's Act of 1869 in Great Britain abolished imprisonment for debt, some debt-ridden individuals were still incarcerated for up to six weeks before being released.
In 1833, the United States also abolished this practice on a federal level, as did most states in America. Prior to the passing of this legislation, approximately 2,000 New Yorkers annually suffered imprisonment for debt. When the total NY population of the time was less than 100,000, this is a stunning figure.
That was then... this is now.
On April 5, 2009, an article ran in The New York Times concerning a woman in Michigan who had been ordered to reimburse the juvenile detention center for fees incurred for incarcerating her 16-year-old son. When she explained her inability to pay before the courts, she too was incarcerated. The article went on to report she spent 28 days behind bars before the ACLU was able to have her released.
28 days? Yep!
What are we coming to as a country?
I also discovered that there are many For Profit prisons popping up all over the country. These privately-owned prisons operate under a different set of rules than state-run prisons, which is (in my opinion) a huge glaring problem which most Americans fail to realize.
If there is no real oversight, then prison authorities will never do the "right" thing, whatever that may be...
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