Posted on 12/04/2022 6:14:30 AM PST by devane617
An 82-year-old woman in Alabama was arrested for failing to pay her trash bill, police said.
Martha Louis Minefield, a longtime resident of Valley, Alabama, was arrested on Sunday after she failed to make payments for her trash service for the months of June, July, and August, according to a statement by Valley Police Chief Mike Reynolds.
Code Enforcement attempted to contact Menefield several times and issued a citation in August that advised her to appear in court on September 7, police said. A warrant for Menefield's arrest was subsequently issued after she failed to appear in court, per officials.
Menefield, however, told local news outlet CBS 42 that she was surprised when police officers came to her home on Sunday to arrest her.
The senior told the outlet that she had never received any notice to appear in court and that she thought the $77.80 bill had already been paid because her trash pickup was never suspended.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Debtors prison returns
Yesterday somebody posted that she ignored a court summons and that’s why she was arrested.
So, she was not jailed for not paying her trash bill. The woman was jailed for not appearing before a judge. She was jailed for a warrant demanding her presence in court
This story, maybe a different article, was posted yesterday.
Someone posted that it was for not showing to court about the bill.
Someone might wish to verify. Still a crappy story…
...and Hunter is free?
I’d say it’s more like a 40 tiered justice system.
Assuming she ever saw the summons, but that appears to be the story.
SO much easier to issue an arrest warrant for an 82 year old grandma for a $78.00 trash bill than to go after actual criminals like drug dealers, thieves and con artists ... but hey, the “justice” system has to prioritize what’s important ...
Did anyone pay it yet? Does anyone know how it can be paid?
Pretty shameful all the way around but that is what our society has devolved to.
Funny, huh.
She should have just burned down a building or stolen a tv or carjacked or clocked another senior in the head with a brick. You don’t have to go to jail for that.
That is how the story was written, but the charge was “Failure to Appear” in court, which is a jailable offense. The author was trying to embellish to sell the story, which it certainly did.
Remember that Randy Weaver was given an incorrect court date which lead to the siege. A judge ruled that Randy Weaver was still in contempt because he should have confirmed the court date instead of just relying on the summons.
Not so much the trash bill but the FTA for not showing up in court. Regardless, she shouldn’t have been perped, IMO. I don’t care what court orders say about FTA arrests.
As of the 2010 census Valley Alabama had a population of 9,524
Exactly. And a lot safer.
“So, she was not jailed for not paying her trash bill. The woman was jailed for not appearing before a judge. She was jailed for a warrant demanding her presence in court”
Too predictable... You are a government suck up. I can’t believe you would think this is Ok. Cause and effect... She was obviously written a citation for not paying the bill first. Not paying a trash bill should never be illegal and/or require a citation or court appearance in the first place.
Like mentioned above, it is debtor’s prison, which is unconstitutional. Even if it is to a municipality utilities are always treated as a civil action because anything other is unconstitutional. If it was an “incorporated” municipality then it is a civil action for sure.
No they should have suspended service and collected back fees before reinstating. No issue to appear should have been written in the first place. Owing a trash bill should never be a criminal code violation.
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