US Marshals arresting people for not paying their federal student loans

&quot;those attorneys and debt collectors are getting judgements in federal court and asking judges to use the US Marshals Service to arrest those who have failed to pay their federal student loans&quot;<p>The US Marshals enforce (federal) court orders. He was subject to a court order mandating the payment of a debt. It&#x27;s not like he fell into arrears and they &quot;just showed up&quot;. If it was a mortgage debt, or an eviction proceeding, typically it&#x27;d be the local sheriff.<p>No story.

Really suspiciously light on details. This sounds like a judge issued a bench warrant and he ignored it (didn&#x27;t go to court on the date he was supposed to go to court). A bench warrant us essentially an order to appear before a court under pain of arrest. If you ignore it, the law enforcement agency with the appropriate jurisdiction (in this case, U.S Marshals) will go &quot;encourage&quot; you to show up.<p>A student loan debt may be the initial reason for the bench warrant (somebody may have tried to collect and the court issued a summons to get him to show up at court and explain why he isn&#x27;t paying) --- but all he had to do to avoid the problem was to show up... not necessarily pay.

&gt;He says seven deputy US Marshals showed up at his home with guns<p>Would I be wrong in thinking all US Marshals would be armed at all times, and the article is trying to make this sound like a SWAT raid?<p>Not that I condone this method of debt collecting - the article seems very light on details. I want to assume that they wrote letters etc before they sent in federal police in order to collect debts.<p>(UK resident)

This article suggests &quot;contempt of court&quot; for not paying civil judgements. Sounds like this will be tested before the Supreme Court some day.<p><a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.nolo.com&#x2F;legal-encyclopedia&#x2F;the-new-bill-collector-tactic-jail-time.html" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.nolo.com&#x2F;legal-encyclopedia&#x2F;the-new-bill-collecto...</a>

Call me a right-wing loony ... but why aren&#x27;t we questioning why the government is giving out loans in the first place. Since the proliferation of government student loans in the last 30 years the cost of higher education has gone up significantly. The loans aren&#x27;t working and enforcing them is a no-win situation.

What is the difference between debtors prison and a court system that will rule on a debt, create a court order to pay, and then arrest you for not paying? It sounds like the same thing by another name.

Per peter303[1] and Google, a Judgment Debtor Examination in federal court is pursuant to Rule 69 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and local rules authorizing magistrates (non-judge judges) to conduct examinations of judgment debtors.<p>Also see JUDGMENT CREDITOR: MOTION TO COMPEL- SAMPLE OF AUTHORITIES[2] from the US DOJ:<p>In United States v. Teeple, 286 F.3d 1047 (8th Cir. 2002), the IRS served a summons on an individual taxpayer, because he had failed to file tax returns. When the taxpayer failed to comply with the summons, the United States filed suit to enforce. The district court ordered the summons enforced over the taxpayer&#x27;s Fifth Amendment objection under the act of production doctrine. The taxpayer was held in contempt for not complying with the enforcement order and was incarcerated.<p>[1] <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.nolo.com&#x2F;legal-encyclopedia&#x2F;the-new-bill-collector-tactic-jail-time.html" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.nolo.com&#x2F;legal-encyclopedia&#x2F;the-new-bill-collecto...</a> [2] <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.justice.gov&#x2F;sites&#x2F;default&#x2F;files&#x2F;tax&#x2F;legacy&#x2F;2006&#x2F;03&#x2F;02&#x2F;exh13.pdf" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.justice.gov&#x2F;sites&#x2F;default&#x2F;files&#x2F;tax&#x2F;legacy&#x2F;2006&#x2F;0...</a>

And meanwhile, the banks commit outright fraud and are rewarded with bailouts.

Why is that so shocking? About 15% of prisoners are there for debt.

I&#x27;m guessing the cost of collections -- the attorneys, the marshals, etc -- far exceded $1500.

When you take out a loan, you should pay it back. But I&#x27;m a conservative, so my views differ from most liberals.

Invoking the blunt hammer of armed enforcers is an unnecessary act. Any of the debtor&#x27;s current and future wages can just as easily be garnished with the same stroke of a pen.