Recently 
My experience was 3 days in holding at a county jail. I was picked up on a bench warrant executed by a judge in a town I used to live in, over debt. Yes. DEBT.
In 2010 I was in the middle of various home improvements and renovations when I lost my job. I was not able to complete the improvments on my home due to no income.
The state of house and yard weren't in the greatest condition, and worsened with depression and anxiety that I was drowning in over my financial state.
On top of it a pipe burst in the ceiling and caused water dammage in some areas. Because I wasn't able to cover the deductible, water to the pipe was shut off, and repairs weren't made because the house was in forclosure so the company providing home owners insurance pulled coverage.
What caused the city to come after me, was neighbors complaining to the city- I lived in an HOA- and the city came after me for building code and weed violations. I was taken to court, and was fined a total of $6550.
By this time, it was fall of 2012, and I was also dealing with garnishment of my checks for medical bills, which lead to me filing bankruptcy.
I included the city fines in my bankruptcy, but the city chose to ignore it and came after me with a cash only bench warrant. This made it impossible to get the assistance of any bail bondsmen to get me out.
I don't know about other countries, but in the US, being sent to prison over debt, is a direct violation of our constitution and civil rights. This apparently didn't matter to the city of Rifle, Co. or the judge, Judge Zerby.
What's even worse, is that a few months later, my former residence was purchased, and the fines, all placed in a lien against the property (as well as them coming after me personally), were completely paid off. The city and the judge, simply did it out of spite, in my opinion.
The first installment, an almost minute by minute account of everything that occurred, will start being posted beginning tomorrow, Monday May 1st. Please look for it.
All images from Pixabay
