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Arkansas is the only state where you can go to jail after falling behind on rent.
That’s because of a 119-year-old law that allows landlords to file criminal — rather than civil — charges against tenants.
Even prosecutors find the law problematic. One thinks the statute makes poverty a crime and violates the Eighth Amendment, which prohibits cruel and unusual punishment. (He got fired for telling us that.) Another finds the practice “fundamentally unconscionable” and has stopped bringing criminal eviction cases altogether.
But the law still exists.
More than 200 new failure-to-vacate cases have been filed in Arkansas since mid-March, when the pandemic almost tripled the state’s unemployment rate. And at least seven women were detained or sentenced to jail for not appearing in court.
To read the full story, click the link in our bio.
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This story was produced in partnership with the Arkansas Nonprofit News Network
Illustration by @mattw_illiams
