6 Days In Jail For Overdue Library Books
Beloit, Wisconsin does not f*&% around when it comes to library books. When your books aren't returned to the Beloit Public Library, three overdue notices are mailed out and then you may be issued a citation that could possibly include a court date.
Beloit-resident Keely Givhan says she was in the process of moving and never got the notices. When she was pulled over in November, police saw that she had an outstanding warrant and arrested her, says the Associated Press.
She and her family couldn't afford to pay her fine so she remained in jail for six days.We are so glad that we do not live in Beloit. We're so forgetful about library books that we'd have like, a sentence of life in prison without parole by now.Beloit police Capt. Bill Tyler said he knows this case could sound like an overreaction. But he said a municipal fine is a municipal fine, and failure to pay for any reason can result in an arrest warrant being issued.
Woman Jailed For Failing To Return Books [Channel 3000 via Fark]
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CRUEL AND UNUSUAL PUNISHMENT
Yes, caps were necessary.
That's intense.
The last time I was at my local library I overheard a librarian telling someone they still have books from two years ago.
Wonder what happens for an overdue parking ticket... geeze
Dude shouldn't have kept 'Tropic Of Cancer' for 20 years, if he didn't want the library cop breathing down his neck.
@rkmc12: I'm a librarian, and guilty of that, too. (Not two years, not even close...but damn if I can't get stuff in by the due date. And I'm here 5 days a week!)
This is why are our Jails are SO CROWDED?
I suppose I better pay that $25 ticket I got for parking in the snow route. Otherwise they might come and get me too.. I am in IOWA though.l
I, for one, feel a lot safer with these ruffians off the street.
Aw, at my local library they just offered generally amnesty. Come in between the two week date, and your fees are wiped clean! I think this was for under 30 bucks or so, though....
The police showed up to my house one afternoon looking for $250 worth of missing library books. We told him that we'd have it taken care of the following week. Our landlord came a call'n wanting to know what the police were over for. We told him it was just for the drug dealing.
Funny thing is he didn't ask any follow up questions...
No sense of humor.... thats what a PhD in comparative lit gets you
But uh, just how many overdue books does she have if the fine is so high, they can't pay it?
It's crap like this that makes me want to cut library funding.
"But he said a municipal fine is a municipal fine, and failure to pay for any reason can result in an arrest warrant being issued."
The problem is the conversion of a civil fine into a criminal matter, leading to arrest. One must assume she was put before a judge during her six day stay -- who was the judge who sent someone back to debtor's prison^W^Wjail for failure to pay a fine rather than releasing her on a signature bond? If on the other hand, she was in jail 6 days without before being permitted to see a judge, that right there is unconscionable.
Altogether, I'd almost prefer libraries merely ruin my credit and deal with slimeball collection agencies than have to hear "I'm sorry sir, your library account is NOT in good standing. Please step this way."
She's wasn't put in jail for failure to pay her library fines. She was put in jail for failure to appear in court. The issue is getting confused here. She likely knew she had a court date, and that she could either pay the fines prior to that date, or appear in court. Clearly she chose to do neither. She was not put in "Debtors" prison, she was put in "I didn't show up, as ordered, to court" prison. While I think making library fines a "municipal" fine, like a parking ticket, is a bit overboard, it in no way lessens her duty to appear in court.
jnews is right.
I don't think the issue here is really a problem with the library it is a problem with the legal system. They would have done the same to her with any municipal fine - no tag on her dog, not shoveling her sidewalks after snow, allowing weeds to grow in her yard, parking tickets, etc. etc. Whatever a city can theoretically fine you for. None of those matters should ever send anybody to jail for six days.
@Pylon83: Failure to appear to a court date in a civil matter results in a default judgment against you, not a warrant for your arrest. Except in Wisconsin, apparently.
Thats harsh. Here in gitmo, they just waterboard you for a little bit and let you go.
Well, at least it explains why 1% of America is now incarcerated.
When I was a kid (40+ years ago) one of my library books was lost. I swore that I did not have it. I swore that it was in the stack of books that Dad had returned. The Library swore that they did not have the book.
$125 lost book charge (mom kept the paperwork along with my report cards etc). It was a dinky young kids book. Back in those days it might have cost $10 for a hardcover. Thank god Dad paid the fee, else I might still be in jail.
I cannot believe the nerve of these scofflaws with the overdue books. Praise jeebus that we're not wasting time and tax money going after criminals.
@jnews: True, except you have property that doesn't belong to you, I would think this could be considered theft, if you don't return them.
is there an online database where i can check to see if any of these people live near me? it's disgusting to think that people with overdue library books are walking free on our streets.
It seems that no one wants to assume responsibility for ones choices; let alone the consequenses of our choices. We all have excuses. We all think we should be exempt. If those are the rules, so be it. Do the right thing and return books or pay your fine.
It would seem that the person must have had a very large fine to not be able to pay it, or borrow it to pay. Sometimes folks think they can just ignore rules and get away with it. No sympathy here. Yes, I've gotten fines on a book, but I turned the book in 2-3 days late and paid up.
The punishment was unnecessary, if she couldn't pay, then she should do some free work for community. That way resources aren't wasted on minor offense.
However, she didn't return her books. If someone would loan a book from you and didn't return it? That's called stealing.
And if you're tight on money, take books back to the library, apologize, explain the situation. You fines will be reduced or forgiven.
And the excuse ''oh, I was moving...'' . Well, she still lived on the address. I don't believe she doesn't open her correspondence. So she was probably ignoring her library requests.
@StevieD: In this case, your parents should have negotiated with the library to cover the cost only, and maybe to kick on another children's book. Common sense should prevail. But this is a job for adults, not kids.
@rkmc12: Library should force these people to do some free work for them. Like clean the windows, floors, throw out the garbage :)
Kinda misleading... she went to jail because she failed to show at her hearing, which is a result of her negligence to respond to court summons.
I'm surprised they would go that far to get the overdue fines. She must have owed a lot of money to the library.
@chouchou: Part of Stealing is intent. If you let me borrow a book, and I intend to keep it, then its theft. If I loose it, then its not. If I decide not to pay you the full amount for it, its a civil dispute. Not criminal in any sense.
Before anyone starts attacking the police for arresting her: an outstanding warrant is an outstanding warrant. Officers have zero discretion in most [I'm pretty sure all] states to forego the arrest. The article does not specifically say, but it sounds like a bench warrant for failure to appear in court. Personally, it sounds to me like it got blown out of proportion with the initial summons to court and then got worse when the judge or whomever was presiding [would've been a magistrate here in MA] issued the warrant.
All the court costs, etc. IMHO, were wastes of tax-dollars and valuable court time.
Wow, now if you are drafted you'll end up on the Group W bench.
Everything you can get at a library is available for free on the internet. Tell these governments where they can shove their fines and just download the stuff like everyone else.
Pressed chest
Fleshed out west
Might be the savior
Or a garden pest
I've always maintained that reading is dangerous.
@yesteryear: I can see where you're going, but I don't think that brings enough shame on these perps. I advocate a Scarlet Letter system, whereby this type of scum is branded for all to see. This eliminates people having to actually seek out a database, and simply makes these scofflaws easily identifiable to all.
I can see why they did this. Library book are bought from your taxes. when people steal and dont return them they have to buy the book again therefore taking it out of that years budget. IF that happens a lot taxes for that district will keep going up. So the library has to do something to stop bleeding money if people are always not returning materials.
@majortom1981: Not true. They don't have to, and unless its a requested book, probably won't buy it again. And in that case, fining over the price of the book + 50% is excessive.
*I Work at a library.
@chouchou:
Oh, I am sure Dad did some negotiating /compromise.
Mom just kept the document to show what they went through in raising me.
@Pylon83: "She likely knew she had a court date..." You should really learn to read more carefully.
"she was in the process of moving and never got the notices."
Man, I almost single-handedly keep the library here in business. But I happily and regularly pay my fines, whatever. It's still cheaper than buying all those books.
I wonder how much this woman's fine was? And, what's worse: having a warrant issued for your arrest, or having the fine sent to collections?
BTW, How come nobody's posted this here yet?! You guys are slacking off!
+ Watch video Courtesy: Weird Al Yankovic
@peggynature: I had a library fine sent to collections. Even though I paid it the very day I got the bill in the mail.
It is quite embarassing to have MULTNOMAH COUNTY LIBRARY emblazoned on the collections section of your credit report.
@majortom1981: Being late returning a library book != (not equal) "stealing" a book.
A realize it's a tax expense. And I'm a taxpayer, with a healthy self-interest in reducing my taxes. But I also realize that there are a lot of reasons for being late returning a book. For instance, kids have to finish book reports. Are the police going to put a ten-year-old in jail because "an outstanding warrant is an outstanding warrant"?
IANAL, but I think legally it's pretty shaky at best. Someone could probably challenge the imprisonment as illegal. As someone pointed out, late fees are a civil fine, not a criminal fine, and issuing an arrest warrant against a civil debt borders on debtors jail, which we've outlawed in the U.S.
@humphrmi: The warrant was NOT for the fine, it was for failure to appear in court [i.e. appearing to brush off a judge]. I don't know about WI, but here in MA a police officer is legally obligated to arrest you for an outstanding warrant. She was not jailed for failure to pay the fine, but failurue to appear, which is not a civil infraction.
Can the library prove the notices were sent, can the court prove a citation was delivered to the defendant to appear in court? Legal proof would require a witness testifying they personally put the notices and citation in the hands of the defendant. Common carriers or USPS do not meet the legal requirement, because they will let anyone at a residence sign for a delivery. An officer of the court has to make physical contact with the defendant and deliver written notification of the court date.
Either part of the story has been omitted or the defendant has been falsely imprisoned.
I'm a bail bondsman. I get two or three of these cases every year. The folks on this board that say that the arrest and detainment was for failure to satisfy a summons are correct. The cops DO have to run you in with an active warrant on file. Period. We can argue all day if this was an overreaction by the library, but failure to appear is a pretty serious matter to every judge that I deal with. "I moved and didn't get my notice in the mail" is not a valid excuse. It is the defandants responsibility to keep the court apprised of their correct address at all times. In every one of these library book cases that I have seen, the judge just orders return of the book (or restitution) and nominal court costs. Case dismissed. This person would have probably got the same treatment in her court. But not showing up makes you look like you don't give a damn and then the court system escalates. Sorry, but thats the way it is...
In Wisconsin, failure to show up in court results in a "bench warrant" and these things do *not* go away.
I bet they let drug dealers walk after a day!