06/13/2014 // West Palm Beach, Florida, US // JusticeNewsFlash // Justice News Flash // (press release)
Philadelphia – An impoverished woman who was jailed over truancy fines was recently found dead in a cell while serving a 48-hour sentence. As reported by the Associated Press (AP), the woman, Eileen DiNino, 55, was halfway through the sentence when she was found.
DiNino, who had seven children, had incurred a $2,000 debt from fines and court costs, which would have been erased by the jail time. She was sent to Berks County jail by District Judge Dean R. Patton after failing to pay on the fines for four years.
Over a reported 1,600 people have been jailed in Berks County in connection with truancy fines over the last decade and a half.
Patton, who reluctantly made the decision to jail DiNino, is quoted as stating of her case, “This lady didn’t need to be there, We don’t do debtors prisons anymore. That went out 100 years ago.”
According to police, a cause of death in the case has yet to be determined.
This report is provided by Justice News Flash – Philadelphia Legal News
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