Jailed For Being Poor?

There's more to the story than the headline of course, but essentially, yes, a Michigan woman and mother, who had lost her job and home and was in all ways destitute aside from a meager income working part-time for a friend, was unable to pay for her son's stay in a court-ordered juvenile detention facility was jailed for contempt of court. If that isn't an example of black and white thinking gone to the extreme, read on as to what was also imposed on this women:

"Since March 3, 2009, Ms. Nowlin has been serving her sentence at the Delta County Jail. On March 6, 2009, she was released for one day to work. Once released she picked up her $178.53 check from work thinking that she now could pay the $104.00 to get out of jail. However, upon her return to jail that evening, the sheriff forced her to sign over her check to the jail to cover $120.00 for “room and board.” She was also charged $22 for a drug test and the booking fee."

Ms. Nowlin was finally released on March 30th. Read here for the full story.