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Pastimes : Let's Talk About Our Feelings!!! -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: epicure who wrote (40148)	6/12/1999 11:17:00 AM
From: Father Terrence	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 108807

OUR JUSTICE SYSTEM 'AT WORK' Woman Arrested For Overdue Library Books Updated 7:59 AM ET June 11, 1999 FLORIDA - In Florida, failing to return a library book could land you in jail. One of the city's most laggardly book borrowers was arrested this week for failing to appear in court to explain why she had not returned library books - a mother who kept the books ("The Cat in the Hat" and "Mr. Fuzzy-Wuzzy") she checked out to read to her 2-year-old son. The Public Library System said the culprit was given at least eight chances over 18 months to clear the record by returning the books before she was arrested on warrants for failure to appear in court and return the books. "She just ignored it all. After 18 months you assume the books are not coming back," a prosecutor told Newservices Thursday. "If it was a rental car... there's a point where we consider it theft." The maximum fine for an overdue book is $2.50, no matter how long it takes to return it, a spokesperson said. Yet the library system was spending $180,000 a year to replace overdue items. "Every year we were spending one third of our budget on books we already owned," a library spokesperson explained. "They (the public) just haven't taken the theft of public property seriously. They have the mind set that if it's public property it's OK if you take it." The woman, age 22, was handcuffed and taken to the County Jail Monday at gunpoint on a criminal warrant. She was incensed. "I think it's outrageous that they arrest you...It ain't like I did some huge crime, like I killed somebody." Prosecutors said the woman could face a $10,000 fine and up to a maximum of 20 years in a State prison. Her 2-year old child has already been remanded to the custody of the state social services for processing.