IMPRISONMENT FOR DEBT

Authors

Richard Ford, Of the Bar of Detroit, Michigan

Abstract

Imprisonment for debt is usually thought of as a barbarous custom which declined continuously as civilization and Christianity advanced and which was totally done away with long ago. The facts, however, are otherwise. It seems doubtful if history warrants any generalization to the effect that the imprisonment of debtors has been a steadily declining practice. Certain it is, that in a greater or less degree it exists today in many parts of the United States, in England, and in some other countries. Moreover, creditors are making use of it on a comparatively large scale. It is the purpose of this paper to trace briefly the growth of the idea of arrest in civil actions in early times, its progress in the common law, and its development around the writs known as capias ad respondendum and capias ad satisfaciendum. As representative of the American law on the subject, the present practice in the state of Michigan will be examined, Michigan being a state in which the law of civil arrest bas had an unusually luxuriant development. Finally, there will be an examination of available statistics as to the extent and results of the present-day civil arrest, and an attempt will be made to draw some conclusions as to its desirability.

Recommended Citation

Richard Ford, IMPRISONMENT FOR DEBT, 25 Mich. L. Rev. 24 (1926).
Available at: https://repository.law.umich.edu/mlr/vol25/iss1/4