| | Under harsh bankruptcy laws' of that era, debtors often fared worse than common criminals in prison. For example, debtors, unlike criminals, were forced to provide their own food, fuel, and clothing while behind bars.<ref>B. Mann, Republic of Debtors: Bankruptcy in the Age of American Independence 78-108 (2002).</ref> | | Under harsh bankruptcy laws' of that era, debtors often fared worse than common criminals in prison. For example, debtors, unlike criminals, were forced to provide their own food, fuel, and clothing while behind bars.<ref>B. Mann, Republic of Debtors: Bankruptcy in the Age of American Independence 78-108 (2002).</ref> |
| − | '''Debtor's prison''' was not abolished in [[England]] until 1869, and then only subject to certain exceptions.<ref>See Debtors Act, 1869, 32 & 33 Vict., ch. 62, § 4; see also Cohen, The History of Imprisonment for Debt and its Relation to the Development of Discharge in Bankruptcy, 3 J. Legal Hist. 153, 164 (1982).</ref> | + | '''Debtor's prison''' was not abolished in [[England]] until 1869, and then only subject to certain exceptions.<ref>See Debtors Act, 1869, 32 & 33 Vict., ch. 62, § 4; see also Cohen, The History of Imprisonment for Debt and its Relation to the Development of Discharge in Bankruptcy, 3 J. Legal Hist. 153, 164 (1982).</ref> Debtor's prison was banned under federal law in the [[United States]] in 1833, as reiterated by the [[U.S. Supreme Court]] in 1983, but persists in some forms such as criminal fines and unpaid child support.<ref>https://www.aclu.org/issues/smart-justice/sentencing-reform/ending-modern-day-debtors-prisons</ref> |
| | In the [[United States]], the initial bankruptcy and insolvency laws remained as much concerned with ensuring full satisfaction of creditors (and, relatedly, preventing debtors' flight to parts unknown) as with securing new beginnings for debtors. But there were critics of this practice, including [[Samuel Johnson]]:<ref>[http://www.samueljohnson.com/debtorsp.html Quotes on Debtor's Prison]</ref> | | In the [[United States]], the initial bankruptcy and insolvency laws remained as much concerned with ensuring full satisfaction of creditors (and, relatedly, preventing debtors' flight to parts unknown) as with securing new beginnings for debtors. But there were critics of this practice, including [[Samuel Johnson]]:<ref>[http://www.samueljohnson.com/debtorsp.html Quotes on Debtor's Prison]</ref> |