When I was growing up, we were told “no debtor’s prisons in the USA.”
More recently, there are debtor’s prisons for divorced parents, usually fathers, who fall behind in their court-mandated payments.
This would be new. Maybe there’s more to the story, or else they could pay their bills with a credit card, converting them into credit card debt. That would be safer, because “Couple thrown into jail for not paying their credit card debt” would be a PR loser.
“Maybe there’s more to the story,”
Maybe no need if you read the article.
That law was put in place at Hassenplug’s own recommendation to the local judge. The attorney uses that law by asking the court to direct people with unpaid medical bills to appear in court every three months and state they are too poor to pay in what is called a “debtors exam.”
If two hearings are missed, the judge issues an arrest warrant for contempt of court. Bail is set at $500.