You committed no crime, but an officer is knocking on your door. More Minnesotans are surprised to find themselves being locked up over debts.
By CHRIS SERRES and GLENN HOWATT , Star Tribune staff writers
Jamie Rodriguez
Star Tribune
Robert Edmond Vee
Joyanne Uhlmeyer
Glen Stubbe, Star TribuneAs a sheriff’s deputy dumped the contents of Joy Uhlmeyer’s purse into a sealed bag, she begged to know why she had just been arrested while driving home to Richfield after an Easter visit with her elderly mother.
No one had an answer. Uhlmeyer spent a sleepless night in a frigid Anoka County holding cell, her hands tucked under her armpits for warmth. Then, handcuffed in a squad car, she was taken to downtown Minneapolis for booking. Finally, after 16 hours in limbo, jail officials fingerprinted Uhlmeyer and explained her offense — missing a court hearing over an unpaid debt. “They have no right to do this to me,” said the 57-year-old patient care advocate, her voice as soft as a whisper. “Not for a stupid credit card.”
12 Comments
“…step out of line, the man come and take you away…” Stephen Stills, 1967
you thought maybe this guy was an anomaly?
the oligarchy would nothing better than to return to the 19th century. if this, and the draconian bankruptcy law, are any indication, they’re well on their way to achieving their goal.
h/t to steven d
“Bankruptcy’s no taint!”…..but that guy is.
Wow! bad news! thanks for posting this information!
Expand this and I’ll front page it.
I don’t have anything to add to it. The article speaks for itself.
Oops, I meant to add thanks for the offer, but hit post too fast.
Well, hard-pressed states can barely afford to maintain existing prison populations, so they’re going to start jailing the gazillions of folks who can’t pay their debts?
No. This is intimidation. Corporate terrorism.
Here it`s simply called overcrowding.
When the jails soon erupt very violently, (I foretell it) the intimidators will be dealt with like those in the Bastille, then the corporate masters will be next.
Everybody could stop paying all credit card loans.
Anybody who gets arrested& jailed for this offense plus anyone arrested & jailed for any other offense, should refuse bail & demand their right to a speedy trial. The courts would be overwhelmed within a few days & the jails would burst there seams.
Every time I`ve ever appeared in court as a defendant or as a spectator, I always hear asked, “Do you waive your rights to a speedy trial?” The answer should be “No! & “I do Not request bail.”
That would only work if everybody did it though.
There have always been abuses of police power, but the fundamental difference between democracy and fascism is that officers of the State serve the citizens, and not The Powers That Be.
Years ago, when I had a dispute with someone who owed me money, I was told that it was a civil mater and the police had no jurisdiction.
Ms. Uhlmeyer’s missed appearance would have been in a Civil court. Failing to appear in a Civil court usually results in the Judge ruling against that person in absentia. This would allow the credit card company to seek further civil actions, should they not reach a repayment agreement with the card holder, which could include garnishing wages, etc. This can be a long drawn-out process, but it is the system we have in place for resolving disputes between parties.
Obviously, in Minnesota, lobbyist for the credit card industries got a bill sponsored (and passed) to short-circuit the civil process and “hurry along” their interests – intentionally, and frighteningly, erasing the line between the civil and the criminal.
Using the criminal justice system for any purpose other than to protect society as a whole is blatantly antithetical to democratic principles. And an open invitation to powerful interests to see the powers inherent to the State as legitimate forces that can be brought to bear in furthering their own interests. Slippery, meet slope.
Scary.
They’re being used against debtors. And in North Dakota.
This dKos post claims these States are doing this: Arkansas, Arizona, Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota and Washington
(but not New Jersey, thankfully)
Thank heaven for New York’s draconian drug laws. We have too many harmless people in jail already.