Debt Peonage as a Source of Revenue: Paying for Government by Fining the Poor — Podcast April 27, 2015


On the Backs of the Poor: The Great Recession and the Criminalization of Debt. Democratic Perspective’s Mike Cosentino, Gary LaMaster and Steve Williamson analyze the effect on the poor, especially minorities, of the disturbing recent trend toward financing hard-pressed local governments through exorbitant fines for minor offenses, and the even more disturbing trend toward jailing people who can’t pay the fines or the interest on them, then charging them fees for their own incarceration. Whose American Dream is that supposed to be? The answer may shock you.

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