Woman Dies in Prison During 2-Day Sentence for Kids' Unpaid School Fines
A woman died in prison after failing to pay school fines for her seven children in Reading, Pennsylvania. Eileen DiNiro, 55, was found dead in her cell Saturday night after ignoring her debt and racking up $2,000 in fines and court costs— something the judge who sentenced her said should have been avoided.
The woman who died in prison had seven children, some of whom were enrolled in a vocational school. However, after DeNiro repeatedly failed to get them to school on time since 1999, District Judge Dean R. Patton sentenced her to 48 hours in the Berks County jail, though he was "reluctant" to do it at the time.
"This lady didn't need to be there," he told the Associated Press. "We don't do debtors prisons anymore. That went out 100 years ago."
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However, Pennsylvania is one of the states that still employ those laws, and it has resulted in over 1,600 people being jailed in Berks County for truancy fines and other fees, The Reading Eagle reported. It did seem to be working, though; since the county began reminding parents to log class assignments and enforcing unpaid truancy fines with a few hours in jail, Patton estimated that truancy has dropped about 30 percent.
Still, the judge regrets what happened to DeNiro. She was found dead in her cell and police have reported no suspicions of foul play, though the cause of death is yet to be determined.
Truancy fines in Pennsylvania are usually $75 or less. DeNiro had been cited dozens of times, according to AP.
