As reported by Vermont Pubic Radio, a Caledonia County (VT) small claims court judge is in the news this week for issuing arrest warrants for people with unpaid debts. Over the past 20 years, the court has issued roughly 290 such warrants, mostly after debtors missed hearings or failed to make payments.
The problem is . . . arresting people for unpaid debts in Vermont has been illegal for over 150 years.
The affected small claims debtors, with debts of $5,000 or less, were arrested and at times forced to pay creditors hundreds of dollars without due process or access to a lawyer. The warrants were issued by retired Assistant Judge Roy Vance during his 22 years on the bench overseeing small claims. Vance doesn't dispute that he violated state law and the Vermont Code of Judicial Conduct by issuing the arrest warrants and demanding payment from debtors without due process. He resigned in January upon suggestion by Chief Superior Judge Brian Grearson. According to the Judicial Conduct Board, Vance expressed genuine remorse for any harm done and cooperated fully with the nvestigation. Vance said he wouldn’t have issued the warrants if he had known it was wrong and blamed the blamed the court’s administration for his mistakes.
Click the embedded player below to hear the complete VPR broadcast of this story.
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5 years ago
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