Debtor's Prison

Paper Summary:

This paper studies the evolution of the legal treatment of insolvent debtors in Britain and America. It focuses on the factors that sustained the practice of imprisoning insolvent debtors and relies principally on Britain, with American practices used as points of contrast. The paper argues that the debtor's prison was a primarily economic institution, necessary for a well-functioning petty credit market, as opposed to a primarily sociological institution, necessary to deal with insolvent individuals in an arbitrary "proper" manner. Section I reviews existing literature and outlines the "sociology of debt" argument, which is the primary lens through which scholars now understand debtor's prisons, to which this paper stands in contrast. It also summarizes the relevant economic literature on bankruptcy. Section II provides historical background on the evolution of the institution of debtor's prisons. Section III establishes the necessity of the debtor's prison for the credibility of debt contracts. Section IV concludes and discusses the importance of the "economic necessity" hypothesis in explaining the abolition of the debtor's prison.

Paper Outline
Introduction
Literature Review
Historical Background
Credibility and Commitment: Early Petty Borrowing
Conclusion
Appendix
Bibliography

From the Paper:

"Imprisonment for debt is viewed as so bizarrely cruel and draconian that contemporary opponents of Republican bankruptcy reform legislation have tarred it as akin to restoring debtor's prison. Internet bloggers, too, have invoked the image of the debtor's prisons to impugn the Bush Administration's Social Security plan as lacking compassion for the poor (see Appendix A). The view of the debtor's prison as a barbaric relic from the past is not confined merely to popular expression, but may also be found in scholarship. For example, Margaret Hunt, professor of history at Amherst College concludes a book review stating:
'One also comes away from [The Character of Credit] with a palpable sense of relief that debtors' prisons are no more. Let us hope a certain Department of Justice does not get hold of this book, or someone might decide to bring them back.'"

More papers on Debtor's Prison:

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