By region Debtors' prison

1 region

1.1 canada
1.2 council of europe
1.3 france
1.4 germany
1.5 great britain (later united kingdom)
1.6 greece
1.7 malta
1.8 united arab emirates
1.9 united states of america

1.9.1 debtors prisons (colonization–1850)

1.9.1.1 historic preservation


1.9.2 modern debtors prisons (1970–current)
1.9.3 modern examples

1.9.3.1 modern u.s. state

by region
canada

council of europe

article 1 of protocol 4 of european convention on human rights prohibits imprisonment of people breach of contract. turkey , united kingdom (due concerns on british nationality law) have signed never ratified protocol 4. greece , switzerland have neither signed nor ratified protocol.

france

france allows contrainte par corps, denominated contrainte judiciaire, money owed state non-insolvant debtors aged 18 65; length limited following amount of debt , aims pressure debtor pay debts, consequently owed money stays owed state.

germany

schuldturm in nuremberg

in late middle ages, , @ beginning of modern era, public law codified in germany. served standardize coercive arrest (pressionshaft), , got rid of many arbitrary sanctions not universal. in areas (like nürnberg) debtor sell or redistribute debt.

in of cities, towers , city fortifications functioned jails. sanctions there designated prisons, hence towers being called debtors prison (schuldturm). term schuldturm, outside of saxon constitution, became catchword public law debtor’s prison.

in modern era, debtor’s detainment or citizen’s arrest remained valid in germany. used tool compel payment, other times used secure arrest of individual , ensure trial against them in order garnish wages, replevin or form of trover. practice particularly disgraceful person’s identity, had different rules criminal trials. more similar modern enforcement of sentences (strafvollzug) e.g. debtor able work off debt amount of days, graduated how owed.

the north german confederation eliminated debtors prisons on may 29, 1868.

at present comparable concept debtors prison still exists in various forms in germany:

a maximum of 6 weeks coercive arrest refusal of payment or fine.
as alternative sentence.
as personal arrest securing of foreclosure or garnishment on wages.

great britain (later united kingdom)

a mid-victorian depiction of debtors prison @ st briavels castle

in england during eighteenth , nineteenth centuries, 10,000 people imprisoned debt each year. prison term did not alleviate person s debt, however; inmate typically required repay creditor in-full before being released. in kingdom of great britain , later united kingdom, debtors prisons varied in amount of freedom allowed debtor. little money, debtor pay freedoms; prisons allowed inmates conduct business , receive visitors; others (including fleet , king s bench prisons) allowed inmates live short distance outside prison—a practice known liberty of rules —and fleet tolerated clandestine fleet marriages .

life in these prisons, however, far pleasant, , inmates forced pay keep. samuel byrom, son of writer , poet john byrom, imprisoned debt in fleet in 1725, , in 1729 sent petition old school friend, duke of dorset, in raged against injustices of system. debtor prisoners less fortunate, being sent prisons mixture of vicious criminals , petty criminals, , many more confined single cell.

the father of english author charles dickens sent 1 of these prisons (the marshalsea), described in dickens s novels. became advocate debt prison reform, , novel little dorrit dealt directly issue.

the debtors act of 1869 limited ability of courts sentence debtors prison, did not entirely prohibit them doing so. debtors had means pay debt, did not so, still incarcerated 6 weeks, defaulted on debts court. initially, there significant reduction in number of debtors imprisoned following passage of 1869 act. 1870, total number of debtors imprisoned decreased 2,000, dropping 9,759 in 1869 6,605 in 1870. however, 1905 number had increased 11,427.

some of london s debtors prisons coldbath fields prison, fleet prison, giltspur street compter, king s bench prison, marshalsea prison, poultry compter, , wood street counter. famous clink prison, had debtor s entrance in stoney street. prison gave rise british slang term being incarcerated in prison, hence in clink . location gave rise term being financially embarrassed, stoney broke .

greece

Ιmprisonment debts, whether tax office or private bank, still practiced until january 2008, when law changed after imprisonment unpaid taxes, other debts government or social security office, declared unconstitutional after having been practiced 173 years; imprisonment was, however, still retained debts private banks. situation regarding imprisonment (προσωποκράτηση (prosōpokrάtēsē): custody) debts government still unclear, courts continue have ability criminal acts.

malta

an eighteenth century debtors prison found within castellania in valletta, malta, used offices ministry health. remained in use prison until nineteenth century. people fail pay debts today given prison sentences served @ corradino prison in paola.

united arab emirates

debtors in united arab emirates, including dubai, imprisoned failing pay debts. common practice in country. banks not sympathetic debtors once in prison, many choose leave country can negotiate settlements later. practice of fleeing uae avoid arrest because of debt defaults considered viable option customers unable meet obligations.

united states of america
early debtors prisons (colonization–1850)

many colonial american jurisdictions established debtors prisons using same models used in great britain. james wilson, signatory declaration of independence, spent time in debtors prison while still serving associate justice of u.s. supreme court. fellow signatory robert morris spent 3 years, 1798 1801, in prune street debtors prison, philadelphia henry lee iii, better known henry light-horse lee, revolutionary war general , father of robert e. lee, imprisoned debt between 1808 , 1809 made use of time writing memoirs of war .

debtors prisons prevalent throughout united states until mid-1800s. economic hardships following war of 1812 great britain helped swell prison populations simple debtors. resulted in significant attention being given plights of poor , dependent jailed under widespread practice, possibly first time. increasing disfavor on debtors prisons along advent , development of u.s. bankruptcy laws led states begin restricting imprisonment civil debts. @ time growing use of poorhouse , poor farm seen institutional alternatives debtors prisons. united states ostensibly eliminated imprisonment of debtors under federal law in 1833 leaving practice of debtors prisons states.

changes state debtors prisons

kentucky 1821 – save fraud shown or suspected
ohio 1828
maryland 1830 – debts under $30
new jersey 1830
vermont 1830
massachusetts 1831 – exempted females amount , males debts under $10
new york 1832, connecticut 1837, louisiana 1840, missouri 1845, alabama 1848, virginia 1849



historic preservation

accomac, virginia – constructed 1782–1783, converted gaol [jail] debtors in 1824, closed 1849
tappahannock, virginia – constructed prior 1769, converted other uses 1849
worsham, virginia – authorized 1786, constructed goal [jail] debtors 1787, closed sometime between 1820 , 1849

modern debtors prisons (1970–current)

while united states no longer has brick , mortar debtors prisons, or gaols debtors of private debts, term debtor s prison in modern times refers practice of imprisoning indigent criminal defendants matters related either fine or fee imposed in criminal judgments. extent debtor prosecuted varies state state. modern use of term debtors prison arguably has start precedent rulings in 1970, 1971 , 1983 u.s. supreme court, , passage of bankruptcy reform act of 1978.

in 1970, court ruled in williams v. illinois extending maximum prison term because person poor pay fines or court costs violates right equal protection under fourteenth amendment. during 1971 in tate v. short, court found unconstitutional impose fine sentence , automatically convert jail term solely because defendant indigent , cannot forthwith pay fine in full. , in 1983 ruling bearden v. georgia, court ruled fourteenth amendment bars courts revoking probation failure pay fine without first inquiring person s ability pay , considering whether there adequate alternatives imprisonment.

a year-long study released in 2010 of fifteen states highest prison populations brennan center justice, found fifteen states sampled have jurisdictions arrest people failing pay debt or appear @ debt related hearings. study identified 4 causes lead debtors prison type arrests debts:

state laws attempt make criminal justice debt condition of probation, parole, or other correctional supervision failure pay resulting in arrest , reimprisonment.
state laws consider imprisonment penalty failure pay criminal justice debt. these actions considered civil contempt of court charge, technically not in violation of state constitutions prohibit debtors prisons, same reason incarcerated must released if either pay or prove unable so.
citizens choosing jail time under state programs imprisonment way of paying down court imposed debt.
states regularly arrest citizens criminal justice debt prior appearing @ debt-related hearings, leading in many cases multi-day jail terms pending ability pay hearing.
the routine jailing of persons owe civil debt when such debts related child support arrears. imprisonment such debt legally justified legal fiction incarceration not debt, rather not obeying court order pay debt.

modern examples

in 2014, national public radio (npr) posted report stating there still cases of judges imprisoning people have not paid court fees. american civil liberties union has been challenging such policies since 2009.

in september, 2015, town of bowdon, georgia made international news when sitting municipal judge, robert a. diment, surreptitiously recorded threatening defendants jail time traffic violations if did not provide immediate payment. incidents caused bowdon municipal court closed month in order implement changes in policy.

modern u.s. state