SMITHS GUIDE TO CHAPTER 7 BANKRUPTCY FOR PRISONERS

When Zachary A. Smith',s father died unexpectedly while Zachary was incarcerated, he received a small inheritance from his father',s estate. The State of Missouri filed a civil suit against him under the Missouri Incarceration Reimbursement Act (MIRA). Smith secured a dismissal of the State',s suit, but the State appealed and the dismissal was overturned. The court entered judgment against Smith, ordering the Missouri Department of Corrections to collect 90% of any money deposited into his inmate account by friends and family. Seeing that fighting the MIRA case in state court was getting him nowhere, Smith started researching United States Bankruptcy Codes and found a loophole. A fundamental goal of the federal bankruptcy laws enacted by Congress is to give debtors a financial ",fresh start", from burdensome debts. In Local Loan Co. v. Hunt, 292 U.S. 234, 244 (1934), the Supreme Court made this point about the purpose of the bankruptcy law