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:Since poverty is punished among us as a crime, it ought at least to be treated with the same lenity as other crimes: the offender ought not to languish at the will of him whom he has offended, but to be allowed some appeal to the justice of his country. There can be no reason why any debtor should be imprisoned, but that he may be compelled to payment; and a term should therefore be fixed, in which the creditor should exhibit his accusation of concealed property. If such property can be discovered, let it be given to the creditor; if the charge is not offered, or cannot be proved, let the prisoner be dismissed.

:Since poverty is punished among us as a crime, it ought at least to be treated with the same lenity as other crimes: the offender ought not to languish at the will of him whom he has offended, but to be allowed some appeal to the justice of his country. There can be no reason why any debtor should be imprisoned, but that he may be compelled to payment; and a term should therefore be fixed, in which the creditor should exhibit his accusation of concealed property. If such property can be discovered, let it be given to the creditor; if the charge is not offered, or cannot be proved, let the prisoner be dismissed.

[[Federal]] debtor's prison was abolished in the [[United States]] in 1833 and in various states in a decade or so afterwards.<ref>[http://www.thebklawyer.com/thebkblog/2007/02/13/understand-the-psychology-of-debt-collection-tactics-and-avoid-being-manipulated/ Understand the Psychology of Debt Collection Tactics and Avoid Being Manipulated]</ref><ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=d4lcNFndgyUC&pg=PA38&lpg=PA38&dq=debtor's+prison+abolished+%22united+states%22&source=web&ots=9YqU86ur5N&sig=XOGQxatx5S2oosy7EJUvMbY7hCE Citizen Worker: The Experience of Workers in the United States with Democracy and the Free Market During the Nineteenth Century]</ref>

[[Federal]] debtor's prison was abolished in the [[United States]] in 1833 and in various states in a decade or so afterwards.<ref>[http://www.thebklawyer.com/thebkblog/2007/02/13/understand-the-psychology-of-debt-collection-tactics-and-avoid-being-manipulated/ Understand the Psychology of Debt Collection Tactics and Avoid Being Manipulated]</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=d4lcNFndgyUC&pg=PA38&lpg=PA38&dq=debtor's+prison+abolished+%22united+states%22&source=web&ots=9YqU86ur5N&sig=XOGQxatx5S2oosy7EJUvMbY7hCE Citizen Worker: The Experience of Workers in the United States with Democracy and the Free Market During the Nineteenth Century]</ref>

== References ==

== References ==