ccbig

Woman cuffed, booked for not paying library fines


GRAFTON, Wis. (AP) - A Wisconsin woman has been arrested and booked for failing to pay her library fines.
Twenty-year-old Heidi Dalibor told the News Graphic in Cedarburg that she ignored the library's calls and letters as well as a notice to appear in court.
Still, she was surprised when officers with a warrant knocked on her door, cuffed her and took her to the police station to be fingerprinted and photographed.
Police Capt. Joe Gabrish says officers follow the same procedure with every warrant.
Library director John Hanson says a couple of dozen people are cited each year for failure to return materials or pay fines.
The incident cost Dalibor about $30 for the two overdue paperbacks. It cost her mother $172 to free her.

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If we don't fight hard enough for the things we stand for, at some point we have to recognize that we don't really stand for them.

~Paul Wellstone~

M Richardson

It is not within the police department's descretion to choose which warrents to serve. If you think someone has too much time on their hands, you might want to ask what the judge and/or district attorney were doing, since that is within their perview.

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ccbig

That is true! However, to be arrested, handcuffed, booked and placed in a cell for overdue books is just plain wrong.

__________________
If we don't fight hard enough for the things we stand for, at some point we have to recognize that we don't really stand for them.

~Paul Wellstone~

M Richardson

I agree. It would seem that there would be those in the community that would present a greater threat to the peace.
However, I would suggest that she was not arrested for overdue books. Twenty-year-old Heidi Dalibor told the News Graphic in Cedarburg that she ignored the library's calls and letters as well as a notice to appear in court. (emphasis mine) It sounds as if she failed to appear before a judge. That is a whole different ball of wax from not paying library fines. As for the cuffing, that is standard procedure. It is impossible to tell who is going to be cooperative and who will go nut-case on you. Cuff everybody you arrest and stay safe. Every peace officer's goal is to go home safely to the family at the end of shift. One way to help that is not take chances.

__________________
Race cars, not greyhounds!

ccbig

Police safety procedures have little or nothing to do with the whole jist of the story.... I'm sure you know that.

Yes, the lady failed to appear before a Judge. Thus a warrant was sworn.

First, what is the mindset behind a DA who would bring a case before a Judge for a $30 library fine. This is a matter that should have been handled in the most extreme case by a collection agency for this small of a dollar amount.

Second, what kind of Judge didn't toss out such a trivial case and admonish the DA for wasting the court system's time with such a trivial matter? Further how could a Judge then elevate such a trivial matter by swearing out a warrant for arrest for a $30 library fine.

A case could be made that the fine exceeded the fair market value of the 2 used books in question and the fine itself was beyond what was a reasonable recovery. (No undue enrichment)

This is a case of a the government far overstepping the boundries of reasonable civil law enforcement IMO.

Where I live it can be incredibly hard to get the judicial system to handle minor to moderate criminal acts. To see this heavy handed behavior over a very small civil matter really angers me.

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If we don't fight hard enough for the things we stand for, at some point we have to recognize that we don't really stand for them.

~Paul Wellstone~

M Richardson

We are in total agreement. My only cavil was on your thread title, where you laid the responsibility at the feet of the police.

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Race cars, not greyhounds!