Debtor’s prisons are supposed to be illegal ..........

"Debtor’s Prison for Failure to Pay for Your Own Trial
by Alex Tabarrok on April 18, 2012 at 7:38 am in Economics, History, Law | Permalink

Debtor’s prisons are supposed to be illegal in the United States but today poor people who fail to pay even small criminal justice fees are routinely being imprisoned. The problem has gotten worse recently because strapped states have dramatically increased the number of criminal justice fees. ...............................

Here's the real kicker.

"
in some states public defender, pre-trial jail and other court fees can be assessed on individuals even when they are not convicted of any crime. "................

http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalr ... olution%29

It has been that way for awhile here. Pay the fine or do the time.

Those who have more time than money than might benefit from three hots and a cot. It's a sad statement when citizens can't cover the cost of going to court, being found guilty of nothing, and then jailed because they are burdened with the administrative costs of the court's operations.

Boiled down another way, it doesn't matter if you did or didn't do the crime. All that matters is having the money to defend yourself and pay the fees and fines imposed upon you by the courts. OJ's cases come to mind...