Many Americans will see the inside of a jail cell at some point in their lives. And if you think it only happens to criminals and troublemakers, think again.
1. Possession Of SpaghettiOs
It began innocently enough for Ashley Huff. The 23-year-old was riding in the passenger seat of a car when police in Gainesville, Georgia, pulled the car over for a routine traffic stop. When cops searched Huff’s bag, they found a spoon that was covered in a mysterious residue. It was dirty, Huff explained, because she had recently eaten SpaghettiOs and placed the dirty spoon in a bag in order to return it to a friend. Officers thought it might be methamphetamine, so they conducted a field test — which reportedly came back positive. Huff was charged with possession of methamphetamine and spent two weeks behind bars before being released.
Huff was later thrown back in jail in August, where she remained for a month and a half until more thorough lab results on her spoon came back. They revealed that she’d actually only been guilty of possession of SpaghettiOs sauce all along.
2. Not Wearing A Seat Belt
In a case that would later be decided by the Supreme Court, Gail Atwater was pulled over by police in Lago Vista, Texas, in 1997. The officer noticed that she and her two kids were not wearing their seat belts. But instead of giving her a ticket for the violation, the officer arrested Atwater and took her to the local police station, where she remained behind bars for about an hour before posting bond. At the end of the ordeal, Atwater ended up pleading no contest to the seat belt violation and paying the maximum $50 fine.
In a 5-4 Supreme Court decision in 2001, justices held that the Fourth Amendment does not forbid a warrantless arrest for a minor criminal offense that is only punishable by a fine. Maybe the “Click It Or Ticket” campaign needs a scarier slogan.
3. Littering
When Brandon Amburgey flicked a lit cigarette into the middle of a busy street in Albuquerque, New Mexico, earlier this year, a police officer apparently saw it as an offense worthy of arresting the 31-year-old for. Amburgey was booked into the Metropolitan Detention Center, where he was offered a chance to post cash bail or bond or to be released on the condition that he appear at a mental health court. Amburgey didn’t take these options, however, and remained in jail for nearly a week before being bailed out. A followup report by KRQE found that Albuquerque police had tossed at least seven people in jail for littering charges alone since 2012. Most of them, including Amburgey, had substance abuse or mental health issues, according to KRQE.