48 Comments on “Owe Money? You Could Go To Prison for Being Poor”

  1. Thanks to everyone who understands the weight and importance of this topic.
    Also, how freaking great is the 30mm lens I used to film this? Good depth
    of feild y’all :).

  2. Thanks to everyone who understands the weight and importance of this topic.
    Also, how freaking great is the 30mm lens I used to film this? Good depth
    of feild y’all :).

  3. I think people being put in jail for unpaid tickets was so people couldn’t
    just not pay if they had the money, I think you should still have to pay
    your fees if you are capable of it and if you just are are disobedient and
    don’t pay even when you do have the money (and it’s not going to living
    expensive: shelter, food, water) than you should be thrown behind bars
    because otherwise everyone would just not pay because there would be no
    repercussions although you have a great point, if you can’t pay after
    living expenses, you should be excused because it’s not that person’s fault
    so someone shouldn’t be punished for being broke and being outcomes of
    their circumstances.

  4. Agree with 99% of your views,

    Disagree with the Norway Prison System, Norway is a small enough (and a
    rich one to boot) country to the point where honor system may even work.

    A country as big as the US no frickin way.

    US prison and criminal justice system has to be revamped but the Norway
    system is no way to go

  5. Thanks to everyone who understands the weight and importance of this topic.
    Also, how freaking great is the 30mm lens I used to film this? Good depth
    of feild y’all :).

  6. So not only prisons, guardians, DEA, rehabilitation facilities with their
    employees, but also layers would like to keep pot illegal. Not because it’s
    dangerous, but because it pays their bills. They should consider making
    soda illegal, for some extra revenue…

  7. That would be an awesome way to achieve a life sentence for a one time drug
    offense: throw someone in jail and fine them, when they go out and can’t
    pay the fine+interest throw them in jail again so that the interest keeps
    accumulating and in the end you will have a person who’s constantly in and
    out of jail with accumulating debt they’re never going to be able to pay.
    But in the same time the taxpayer will pay a private prison for jailing
    this person. Ingenious.

  8. Jan Brewer, the current governor of the State of Hate (AZ) had for her
    election chief the primary lobbyist for the “for profit” prisons in the
    state, at the same time he was her chief for her election. Someone should
    really do an expose of them and ALEC who are behind the hateful laws being
    passed in AZ, KS, OK, TX and most other states that are passing laws only
    wanted by the corporations and the other Koch suckers. They have already
    passed the “punish the freeloaders” bill to charge an extra $5.00/month for
    people who have solar to reduce their bills, a law specifically backed by
    Koch Energy.

  9. So do you not think that Bernard Madoff should go to prison, besides all he
    had to do was pay his debts to get out. 

  10. An excellent vid. Anytime a profit motive is mixed with the administration
    of justice the entire system is immediately corrupted. The US
    prison/industrial complex is a nightmare and one of the reasons I refuse to
    spend my vacation dollars in the US.

  11. I had to go to court because of a traffic ticket. I am a student and was
    shocked when the A.D.A. told me that I was going to have to drop out a
    semester to pay off the debt.

    The ticket was a he says she says ticket, the cop felt I deserved the
    ticket and arguably I didn’t. I was surprised to find you how much an
    attorney was going to cost me. It was cheaper for me to take out a loan and
    pay of the ticket. Even though it was not my fault.

    Our legal system has become a monopoly game. It’s no longer a means of
    seeing through justice. Its now a means of getting money. Ana Kasparian,
    thanks for helping to bring this to the public eye. And the new camera
    works great. 

  12. This is why drug dealers exist. It’s the only way to make enough money to
    pay off these debts. It’s a vicious circle.

  13. Hmm. Here in the Netherlands the judges are now changing the rules
    regarding debt or fines, making it harder to take someone ‘hostage’. Now
    the debtors have to show that actually don” want to pay instead of just
    not being able to.

  14. This is part of the rollback of bourgeois progressive advances, which is
    indicative of the utter decay of capitalism. Of course it isn’t rational to
    have debtor’s prisons, but capitalism itself is a non-rational system based
    on the law of the jungle. It actually costs more to imprison people for
    financial non-payment than the value of the actual debt.

    In Michigan, some counties charged people per deim for being in jail for
    misdemeanors. Naturally, they could not pay. And they go back to jail for
    not paying for being in jail before. It is insanity.

    None of this of course applies to rich, because they have the resources to
    pay what is charged. “Equal before the law” is a jingoistic phrase
    supporting the capitalist class. It has no substance.

    “We” don’t treat people like human beings here because capitalism
    commodifies existence itself. In other words, prisoners are a commodity to
    be exploited, and those who are not in prison are also a commodity to be
    exploited, and those who are “free” can be turned into a profitable
    commodity by taking away their “freedom”. But, USA ALL THE WAY!!!!

  15. I agree with your message for the most part. I would like to point out they
    are not “Undocumented immigrants” They are Illegal aliens. Which means
    that they are criminals for being here. They broke the law coming here, or
    overstaying their legal allotted time. They should in fact be put behind
    bars, the bars of the fence between our country and their country.

  16. Well, the obvious answer is to allow the state or business that the person
    is indebted to to use said person as an indentured servant until they pay
    off the debt. Of course, the person may have to be clothed, fed, etc.,
    which can also be added to the debt and subsequently worked off. That way,
    the lender (let’s say a bank in this case) can afford to make high-risk
    loans, because if the borrower can’t afford the interest, they can always
    make them work it off doing menial tasks, being loaned out to other
    businesses in exchange for them paying off the debt, etc. The borrower may
    have to keep any existing job, as well, so after (or before) their regular
    job, and on weekends, they can toil for their masters. Oh, not masters,
    since slavery is illegal and all…but, why not allow corporations and
    banks to hold those who owe them money as slaves until they work off the
    debt? And, if their work is worth less than the interest on the debt, well,
    it’s their fault for not getting a better paying job. They’re paid what
    they’re worth, and their owners can freely decide what they’re worth.

    BTW, I’m being sarcastic. But what’s to stop the system from going this far
    anymore? The will of the people? Pshaw, like we live in a democracy.

  17. Private prison systems are the reason this country has more people in
    prison than China and Russia combined (dont quote me on that). 

  18. I like the morale outrage of liberals at the mistreatment of losers in our
    society. How about the mistreatment of good people? You know, the people
    that wear condoms, don’t have bastard kids, pay their taxes on time, and
    don’t ever commit crimes. What about incentivising good behavior? Ana
    Kasparian doesn’t have any baby daddies, she should get a reward for that.
    Instead, we live in a society that focuses on rewarding bad behavior and
    the ridiculous idea that losers should be placed in the winners circle. 

  19. If you can’t pay the fine don’t commit the time. I was 10000 in medical
    debt and I paid that off in 3 4 years. 

  20. Awesome video Anna! This is such an important story to get out there. It is
    sick how our system will treat good people like criminals and criminals
    like kings… If you are rich. Too often “justice” is bought. If we spent
    as much effort and funding on developing solutions for these issues as we
    do punishing people for things they cannot help or do little harm, we would
    all be better off. It starts with treating all people as having worth as an
    individuals regardless of their net worth. That is how you build a county
    that people can be proud of. That people want to live in. Not by building
    more jails and comming up with new reasons to lock people in them.

  21. I am completely down for assigning community positions to people who owe
    the government justified legal expenses. Give them the ability to pay of
    their debt before assigning it.

  22. Or since I’m an immigrant, deported to a better country. I had to come here
    at age 3, so… yeah.

  23. With debtors prison in place, I guess the work houses and child laborors
    can’t be far behind, if they aren’t already here in some form already. And
    we might as well bring penal colonies back while we’re at it. I’m sure the
    US has some isolated island somewhere they can ship people for shoplifting
    or speeding. 

  24. Ana, you should break apart from TYT at some point in your career. You take
    things more seriously.

  25. I would much prefer seeing the crooked international bankers go to jail for
    the LIBOR scandal then seeing a gal in jail because she forgot to pay the
    overdue fees on a movie

  26. The Mexican constitution explicitly prohibits debtor’s prison, prosecutors
    are technically required to prove fraud in order to initiate criminal
    proceedings. Taxes are technically exempt, although similar protections
    are afforded to the poor, eg many taxes do not apply to those making
    minimum wage or less. It’s always saddening and shocking to see rights and
    principles people like me take for granted not afforded to the citizens of
    far wealthier countries. In particular in nations like mine which all too
    often look at the United States as an inspiration for better models of law
    and order. I have to wonder with some dread how long is it going to take
    our right wingers, we are now de facto much more commited to free trade and
    capitalism than even the USA, to try and change our laws. “It will better
    the economy and allow more people to access loans and credit” they’ll say…

    I hope, for the sake of both our countries, Americans will soon awaken and
    start taking all these barbaric vestiges out of their laws.

  27. MultiCULTurlalism = White geNOcide
    Mexico will still be full of Mexicans
    Africa will stiff be full of Africans
    India will still be full of Indian
    White geNOcide
    Asia will still be full of Asians
    White geNOcide

  28. Private prisons have contracts with the states to maintain a certain amount
    of inmates. So they ship inmates around and waste money on incarcerating
    these people for pointless crimes just to fill slots.

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