Ridiculous: Mom Jailed For Overdue ‘Twilight’ Book, DVD

As Rep. Barney Frank likes to say, government is just the word we use for things we choose to do together. So what are we doing this week? Well, some of us are jailing a New Mexico mother of five for racking up $36 worth of fines at the library.

No, really. Portales mother Lori Teel was handcuffed at her house in front of children aged one-year-old to ten-years-old. She says she doesn’t remember checking out the Twilight book or DVD in 2010 but the local library apparently requested warrants for her arrest. Which were sent to a house she doesn’t live in. When police visited her residence for an unrelated matter June 12, the warrants were discovered and the cuffs were placed. She didn’t find the overreaction to be warranted:

“Honestly, it was awful,” Teel said of the arrest and her night in the Roosevelt County Detention Center. “For me, it was very awful because I have never been in trouble for anything in my life.”

Her children, ages 1 to 10, stayed in a neighbor’s home until Teel was released the following morning on $610 bond, according to KRQE.

“My kids are still very emotional,” Teel said. “They had to stay with a complete stranger. My 3-year-old is traumatized over it. She will not leave my side.”

Teel’s lawyer sent letters to Portales and Roosevelt County officials on Tuesday alerting them that Teel plans to file legal action for the arrest.

So I guess the next thing “we’ll” be doing together is explaining what the hell we were thinking when we arrested a mother in front of her children for some paltry library fines.

(Photo: Matthew Benoit/Shutterstock)

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