a 2019 report by the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law argues that debtors' prisons are likely to appear in states like Arkansas where many people live in poverty and are unable to pay fines and fees, where poor record-keeping exacerbates challenges faced by defendants and where arrest warrants and drivers license suspensions make it even harder for people to pay off court-imposed debt. Modern examples In 2014, National Public Radio (NPR) reported that there were still cases of judges imprisoning people who have not paid court fees. The American Civil Liberties Union has been challenging such policies since 2009. In September, 2015, in the town of Bowdon, Georgia, a sitting municipal judge, Richard A. Diment, was surreptitiously recorded threatening defendants with jail time for traffic violations if they did not provide immediate payment. The incidents caused the Bowdon Municipal Court to be closed for a month in order to implement changes in policy. Modern U.S. by state International agreements In 1963 Article 1 of the Protocol No. 4 to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms "No one shall be deprived of his liberty merely on the ground of inability to fulfil a contractual obligation." In 1976 Article 11 of the ICCPR – International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights – came into effect stating, "No one shall be imprisoned merely on the ground of inability to fulfill a contractual obligation." This international treaties contradicts many domestic laws of ratified states which allows for civil jail. See also Alimony Bankruptcy Child support Debt bondage Debtors' Prison Dublin Josiah Dornford Medical debt Poor law Poorhouse Province of Georgia in the colonial United States, originally intended to be settled by debtors Shays' Rebellion Sponging-house Tax evasion Workhouse References Literature Karl Gratzer: Default and Imprisonment for Debt in Sweden, in: Karl Gratzer, Dieter Stiefel (Eds.): History of Insolvency and Bankruptcy from an International Perspective, Huddinge 2008, S. 16ff. Legal history Personal financial problems