Debtors prison’s were long outlawed but, in 2011, 241 people amazingly were sent to jail in Illinois for issues related to unpaid debts.
This story of how unemployed waitress Cindy James was sent to jail for unpaid debts after a routine traffic violation is illustrative of a system out of control and in desperate need of reform.
This is another reason for you to join us and sign our petition to bring to Washington. We need to reform the debt collection industry before it keeps spinning out of control!
Read it here: http://www.wifr.com/news/headlines/241_People_Arrested_in_Illinois_in_2011_over_Debt_135696863.html
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Hi, I'm Bill Bartmann and I am on a mission to reform the debt collection industry in America. Please join with me as we bring a petition to Washington D.C., and make Congress close all the legal loopholes in debt collection practices. It's time to stop these debt collection abuses and stop these criminals. 
Laws need to be such that burnden of proof rests upon plantiff and debt collector throughout the process. First, Plantiff must have the burnden to prove that the debt is legitimate. Next, the plantiff must have the burden to show that the debtor has means to satisfy the judgment without leaving the debtor starving and homeless. Its is not uncommon for an agressive debt collector to cause a poor person to be unable to afford rent, thereby simply shifting the debt from one creditor to another in a perpetually socially parasitic excercise. The law must protect society from debt collectors who are non-value added participants from the start.
The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation would like to invite you to participate in a public hearing regarding so-called “debtors’ prisons.” In particular, the Department would like to hear from those who have been impacted by the practice of incarcerating debtors who fail to appear in court or who violate a court order. The hearing will take place in the City Council Chambers at Marion City Hall on January 11th at 1 p.m. Please pass this invitation on to persons who might be willing to offer testimony.
January 11, 2012 at 1 p.m.
Marion City Hall
1102 Tower Square Plaza
Marion, IL
Please contact Jeremy Kruidenier in our Chicago office at 312-814-1696 or Shannon Miller in our Springfield office at 217-558-2953 with any questions.