Debtors' Prisons

They still exist in the United States:

As 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."

It's not a crime to owe money, and debtors' prisons were abolished in the United States in the 19th century. But people are routinely being thrown in jail for failing to pay debts. In Minnesota, which has some of the most creditor-friendly laws in the country, the use of arrest warrants against debtors has jumped 60 percent over the past four years, with 845 cases in 2009, a Star Tribune analysis of state court data has found.

Not every warrant results in an arrest, but in Minnesota many debtors spend up to 48 hours in cells with criminals. Consumer attorneys say such arrests are increasing in many states, including Arkansas, Arizona and Washington, driven by a bad economy, high consumer debt and a growing industry that buys bad debts and employs every means available to collect.

Wow.

Not saying people shouldn't pay their debts or miss court hearings over unpaid debts.

But seriously, prison?

Meanwhile bankrupt corporations gets bailed out by the United States taxpayer or just get to file Chapter 11 bankruptcy:

Federal bankruptcy laws govern how companies go out of business or recover from crippling debt. A bankrupt company, the "debtor," might use Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code to "reorganize" its business and try to become profitable again. Management continues to run the day-to-day business operations but all significant business decisions must be approved by a bankruptcy court.

Under Chapter 7, the company stops all operations and goes completely out of business. A trustee is appointed to "liquidate" (sell) the company's assets and the money is used to pay off the debt, which may include debts to creditors and investors.

...

Most publicly-held companies will file under Chapter 11 rather than Chapter 7 because they can still run their business and control the bankruptcy process. Chapter 11 provides a process for rehabilitating the company's faltering business. Sometimes the company successfully works out a plan to return to profitability; sometimes, in the end, it liquidates. Under a Chapter 11 reorganization, a company usually keeps doing business and its stock and bonds may continue to trade in our securities markets. Since they still trade, the company must continue to file SEC reports with information about significant developments.

Gee - Chapter 11 bankruptcy sounds terrible.

So does the government bailout.

No jail time for the assholes who ran the company into the ground.

No financial losses for self same assholes.

Instead they sell stock for a billion dollars.

And the Christmas bonus money continues to be doled out to executives - only post-bailout, they use American taxpayer money instead of money stolen from stockholders.

And let's not forget how the executive staff gets to go to a swanky Arizona resort for meetings just a week or so after the government bailout.

Stockholders can take a bath of course, especially if reorganization doesn't return the business to profitability.

But no baths for the CEO and other top staff.

Meanwhile citizen debtors find themselves in prison when they miss a court hearing.

Ah, as that unfunny Russian comedian used to say in the 80's, "What a country!!!"