Tuesday, August 14, 2012

When Serving Jail Time for Unpaid Debts Becomes a Debt Spiral - Credit Slips

When Serving Jail Time for Unpaid Debts Becomes a Debt Spiral - Credit Slips:
"Tell me.� Are we allowed to do anything we like to those with the least power and money in our society? Are there no limits? We know that in some states, private actors have been permitted to charge 500-1,000% for loans, but what about public actors? Can you think of any debtor-credit practices that rise to the level of human right violations? This is question Chrystin Ondersma (Rutgers Newark School of Law) and I have been asking ourselves in connection with a project on which we are working."
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This post on Credit Slips by law professor Nathalie Martin raises some troubling questions.  Local governments seem to be using their police powers to raise revenue.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

from the story: "Such fees are being used to fund retirement for court officials and make up for other shortfalls."

The debt-spiral is a feature, not a bug.

I hope the Tea Partiers enjoy getting paid in scrip, because they're going to need it to purchase essential goods from the company store.