
U.S. Marshals Are Arresting People in Texas Who Have Outstanding Student Loans - apsec112
http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2016/02/us-marshals-forcibly-collecting-student-debt.html?mid=twitter-share-di
======
sremani
This has been debunked, the dude was wanted for not showing up for the court
multiple times for a loan he took at a later date. This is being overly
exaggerated.

edit: I cannot find the link right now, but chron or some houston based tv
channel had an article about it.

~~~
viraptor
Can you give us relevant links to the debunking?

~~~
glibgil
[https://www.google.com/search?q=Paul+Aker+%22debunked%22](https://www.google.com/search?q=Paul+Aker+%22debunked%22)

~~~
mentat
I don't read the top result as a debunking. If they can arrest you for failing
to show up in court related to a unpaid student debt, that seems equivalent to
being able to arrest you for an unpaid student debt.

~~~
dragonwriter
No, you can be arrested for failure to appear in court when summoned
regardless of the basis, even if the basis of the summons is not itself an
arrestable offense.

Further, the summons wasn't about student loan debt, per se, it was about an
unpaid _default judgement_.

What led to the arrest wasn't the student loan debt, it was a series of
failures to follow court orders or even respond to lawsuits.

Constitutionally, you cannot be arrested for inability to pay a debt
(including a student loan debt) in the US. There are a whole lot of real
problem cases of systems set up in such a way that one could argue that people
are, in fact, arrested for what amounts to inability to pay a debt, and that's
a real problem (John Oliver did a good piece on this a while back) -- but this
isn't one of them. This is someone arrested for just ignoring court orders and
hoping they would magically go away. The fact that the orders ultimately stem
from a student loan debt is rather beside the point.

~~~
MrTonyD
That the court order stems from a student loan debt is not beside the point.
It is the exact point.

~~~
dragonwriter
> That the court order stems from a student loan debt is not beside the point.

It is entirely beside the point: he wasn't arrested for an unpaid student
debt, or even for an unpaid default judgement from a case he failed to respond
to over a student debt, he was arrested for _failure to appear_ when summoned
to court.

That's not being arrested for debt, student loan or otherwise.

~~~
MrTonyD
You're arguing legality - I'm arguing morality.

------
DrScump
Article with context:

[http://www.texasmonthly.com/the-daily-post/whats-really-
goin...](http://www.texasmonthly.com/the-daily-post/whats-really-going-on-
with-student-loan-debt-collection-in-texas)

Original discussion, 70+ comments:

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11110473](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11110473)

------
api
Entry into the middle class is now gated by a system of indenture in which you
must purchase on non-bankruptable debt a certificate to be considered for a
middle class job.

(... unless your parents are rich or you're part of the small percentage who
qualify for non-trivial student aid or scholarships.)

~~~
gravypod
You can also join the militarily or devote half your time to applying to
scholarships.

I know people who have done both. Paying for college has many different
opportunities, you don't need to pay with loans. That is just the most
"convenient" thing to do. Hell, I'm even doing it!

~~~
ap3
Or work and save money for college Or go to a community college Or go to a
local state college

Nope, get a loan

~~~
gravypod
Yea. I feel upset about my situation but when I objectively look at how I got
here I understand that it, in my situation, was a 'choice'.

