State v. Yarboro

This case has been considered with great deliberation by the Court, but I find that my mind cannot reach the conclusion set forth in the opinion nor approve the reasoning through which the result is achieved. The Constitution of North Carolina, Article I, sec. 16, provides “that there shall be no imprisonment for debt in this State, except in cases of fraud.” The reverse of the proposition is that there can be imprisonment for debt in this State “in cases of fraud.” At the outset, therefore, the inquiry is, what is the meaning of the constitutional expression “in cases of fraud”; or to state…