10,131

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agree to support wives and children were embodied in

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decrees.

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The courts ruled that the court could not

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enforce these decrees because this was a contract, even

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though embodied in a decree; and therefore you were put-

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ting a man in jail for failure to pay his debt. So that

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in order to clarify the situation and make it

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clear the obligation to support the wife and children

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was not a debt within the concept of the constitutional

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protection, this language was adopted to clarify that

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point. I believe it was by amendment back in 1950,

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THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Willoner.

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DELEGATE WILLONER: Mr. Chairman, as one member

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of the committee -- and I remember committee discussions

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on this — I don't like taking something out if we don't

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know exactly what we are doing. I don't want to be

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imprisoned for debt in this State, and I would object

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to the committee agreeing this be removed.

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It seems to me that that was the problem we had

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when we discussed it in the committee. As far as we are

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concerned, the legislature could imprison for debt --