Friday, June 13, 2014

Mother of 7 Dies in Jail

Readers here know that I believe the more government is involved in our lives, the more inefficient our lives can be, hampered by useless bureaucracy which supports the government worker more than the public, especially in our social lives; that is, outside of military, law enforcement and other necessities of which government is well suited.  Limited government was a theme of our forefathers and it is socialism which opposes it, whether it be national socialism, or the new international socialism.  Government is "an opinion with a gun", that is, an opinion in life, and the ability to impose that opinion upon us.  This is why limited government promotes freedom, whereas powerful government controls.  
 A Pennsylvania mother of seven died in jail recently while serving a 48-hour sentence over unpaid, school truancy-related fines.

DiNinoEileen DiNino, 55, was found dead last Saturday in her jail cell. Authorities claim to not know the cause of death yet, they have ruled out suspicious behavior.
DiNino was being penalized because several of her children routinely missed school. According to the Associated Press, “She had racked up $2,000 in fines, fees and court costs since 1999 as the Reading School District tried to keep her children in class, most recently at a vocational high school.
Please note that order often shows priority.  The amount owed was $2000 in
1.  fines
2.  fees 
3.  court costs
We now seek to learn why "court costs" are listed last.  The author of the article is only listed as "AP", for Associated Press
All told, DiNino “faced fines from nine active truancy cases, which spawned 55 citations,” the AP adds.
The fines related to school truancy: $20.00 per offense
Court Costs to process the $20 fine:   $150 per offense.
Late fees and penalties also accumulate.  
“In recent years, the government has found all sorts of interesting ways to extract money from people,” said Richard Guida, a lawyer who is experienced in handling truancy cases.
DiNino had no ability to pay her $2,000 fine. She had no job, and lived 100% on welfare, which was based upon the number of children she had.  She was fully supported by the government, fined by the government, and then put into a government jail where she died "alone."  (see Judge's statement)  
District Judge Dean Patton, who sentenced DiNino gave a statement:  
This woman should not have died alone in prison. Our ultimate goal is not to fine people or put them in jail, but that is the only tool the Legislature has given us when people can’t afford to pay.”

 Patton also “acknowledged that a short jail stint can sometimes ‘break the habit’ of parents who’d rather party into the night than take their children to school the next day.”
Note that he did not say that this woman chose to party into the night rather than take her children to school.  It is implied, but we do not interpret; we listen.  If this was her way, simply say so.  If it was not, do not imply it. 
Did he know this woman's account?  
In the county where DiNino lived, roughly 110 parents of truant students are jailed annually.
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6 comments:

Anonymous said...

That is so sad.
It is hard to believe her death was not suspicious.
Or, it may have been suicide.
It is rude for the judge to assume she must have been partying into the night. Sometimes a parent, or even one of the kids, could have a health problem (or even mental health problem) that could interfere with the kids getting to school. Not everything is black and white.
The mother's death seems very suspicious. I wonder if she was alone in the cell. Also, you would think a judge would not take a mom from 7 kids, jail her over unpaid fines and leave the kids fending for themselves. Ironic.

Skeptical said...

This stinks. There is no reason this woman should have died in jail. I can just see the people in positions of authority scrambling to cover their a$$ets.

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

http://news.yahoo.com/mom-died-jail-because-she-didnt-pay-her-140636967.html

This article states that the jail failed to give her high blood pressure meds that she needed. How terrible, to lock up this woman because she can't pay outrageous fines!

The article also outlines some of the trumped up fees. What a disgrace! Especially if the motivation stated in this article ia true. (That truancy fines are being levied to offset the funding lost when student don't attend class.)

Anonymous said...

That's awful, Jen, thanks for sharing your finding. How sad. Now her 7 kids have no mother. We don't know the facts of the truancy. How old are the kids? Sounds like high school age.

rob said...

What's really disgusting is that we, me and you, pay this woman to have 7 children and not take care of them, or even get them to school.If one of the kids had medical problems that kept them out of school, the school would know that.
She is one of a million, or probably more, that have children for the paycheck, then use that check for everything except the children. Open your eyes, it is an ugly sight.