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Poor Mothers
by Deborah Wilson
While doing observation in the Madison County Courtroom (for Sociology class), I was puzzled about the reasons some individuals stood before the Judge. One individual's suspended sentence was revoked. She would have to serve 45 days in jail for food stamp fraud, and she was unable to pay the balance of $265. She lives in "Section 8" (subsidized) housing and has children. She failed to comply with the terms of a suspended sentence, and I'm sure the case was followed through as the justice system would have the honorable judge do.
Yet, I'm still perplexed at how this mother arrived at the place of needing food stamps, and Section 8 housing. Most individuals, if presented opportunities for employment, will work, as this mother undoubtedly was working. But she is what our society would call working class poor - working and never earning enough to meet daily needs. In the vicious cycle of living from day to day, most of the working class poor can't live from paycheck to paycheck. Is this their fault? In rural southern Appalachia, the average wage is very low and unemployment is very high. A mother trying to run her household on this type of salary is up the creek without a paddle. How do we fix this so that people such as this mother do not have to go to jail for $265? She will have no control over what happens to her children while she serves those 45 days.
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