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August 13, 2008
Rhode Island Passes Reform to End Debtor's Prisons
Rhode Island Passes Reform to End Debtor's Prisons
August 13, 20008
With a $400 million dollar deficit in the budget this year, the state of Rhode Island was forced to confront the spiraling $186 million dollar prison budget. One major reform was the passage of legislation to reform the process of collecting court fines. Advocates contended that the state was losing money by locking up people for owing debts to the court system for court fines and fees. As of this July, Rhode Island passed legislation to end this wasteful process.
The law, which is perhaps the first in the country of its kind, was sponsored by Senator Metts of Providence and Representative O'Neil of Pawtucket. It instructs the court system to take the defendant's ability to pay into account and also limit the amount of time people are incarcerated for court debt. According to a report issued by the Rhode Island Family Life Center, Court Debt and Incarceration in Rhode Island, over 2,500 people were incarcerated every year for court debt, sometimes for several weeks. The new law mandates that individuals receive an ability to pay hearing within 48 hours of incarceration. It also states that indigent defendants can have some or all of their outstanding debt waived, and provides guidelines for determining indigency, such as being on food stamps. Sol Rodriguez, the Director of the Family Life Center, said, "This legislation will hopefully end a system that was tantamount to a modern day debtor's prison." The report estimated the law will save the state a quarter of a million dollars.
The importance of the issue was emphasized throughout the year by the testimony of people who had been affected by the law. Harold Brooks, who testified in front of the General Assembly about his experience being incarcerated for ten days for court debt, stated, "I felt the law before was unjust and it felt great to be able to advocate and contribute to this."
go to reinvestinjustice.org to read the report, find the legislation, and see video of people affected by the law.
Posted by lois at August 13, 2008 05:32 PM