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These people had no wage garnishment, instead they were sentenced to forced labor. Why the difference? Because they are poor.

And the line between civil and criminal is often drawn in a peculiar way: Repeat copyright violation enough and somehow it's criminal not civil, but systematically fail to pay artists their royalties it remains civil forever. Embezzling $1000 is criminal, keeping $1000 out of an employee paycheck is a civil.

According to the information in this thread, the amount owed was for a criminal conviction for embezzlement. This is not about a contract between private parties.

"People sent to the centers had been sentenced for felonies but didn’t commit violent crimes, according to the program rules. "