Prisoners and conscience: Hugh McMichael on poverty
‘When might we stop rating our country on its Gross Domestic Product and turn to measures of happiness?’
I recently attended a symposium at Birmingham University, visiting as a former prison chaplain. The law in England and Wales does not permit imprisonment for debt. But if a debtor fails to obey a magistrate’s order for payment, they can be imprisoned for contempt of court. A magistrate may make an order for payment in someone’s absence and without knowledge of any individual’s circumstances. Many of those imprisoned for non-payment are young single parents – especially mothers.
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