Ever since I read about Edwina Nowlin in ACLU of Michigan's diary, I have been obsessed by her story. Bad things happen to people every day, but Ms. Nowlin's story was compelling because of how unjust and hopeless it was. To be jailed for not paying her son's detention center bill and then have the money she earned to pay it confiscated to pay for her own jailing - how can that happen in America?
Edwina Nowlin's situation is truly hopeless. The debt will pile up as long as her son is in the detention center and the debt for her own jailing will compound the problem.
I sent the story idea to some news outlets in hope that someone would find this story worth reporting on. Day after day I hear ("sad") news about how people have to scale back their weddings from $35,000 to $15,000 because times are tough. Really? Is there that little news out there? Why wasn't Ms. Nowlin's story getting any play?
Finally, today the New York Times gave it an editorial:
Edwina Nowlin, a poor Michigan resident, was ordered to reimburse a juvenile detention center $104 a month for holding her 16-year-old son. When she explained to the court that she could not afford to pay, Ms. Nowlin was sent to prison. The American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan, which helped get her out last week after she spent 28 days behind bars, says it is seeing more people being sent to jail because they cannot make various court-ordered payments. That is both barbaric and unconstitutional.
The government should be helping people on society’s margins build productive lives. Throwing them in jail for being poor makes that much more difficult.
Throwing people in jail for not having enough money to pay their fines will make people who already have a tough life that much more desperate.
Many people are enduring hardships in these tough economic times. But we cannot allow these stories to go unheard and the situations unremedied.
Update: Wow. Thanks for the rec. I don't know what to say.
For those interested, I started a fund with the goal of raising enough money for her to pay her son's incarceration fees until he's 18. It's at http://edwinanowlinfund.chipin.com. Or donate to the Michigan ACLU - if it weren't for them, none of this would have come to our attention. Or if you can't donate, try to get local or national media interested in the story. Our power is in raising awareness and involvement.