11.4.4.2 Earnings

CCPA protections against wage garnishment preempt less protective state law.²⁰⁰ One state court held that the CCPA does not apply to state criminal justice debt at all on the theory that the CCPA deals only with consumer finance debt.²⁰¹ This position is inconsistent with the statute, which applies broadly to garnishment for “any debt.”²⁰² The statute does not make any distinctions about the type or source of the debt and it carves out just three exceptions—none of which involves criminal justice debt.²⁰³ The theory that the CCPA applies only to consumer finance debt is also inconsistent with its explicit application to child support²⁰⁴ and tax debt.²⁰⁵ Another court reasoned that prisoners do not have to provide for basic household needs in the same way as a debtor who is not incarcerated, thus obviating the need to protect income.²⁰⁶ But this distinction has no basis in the statute, and the rationale would sweep in a wide range of other debtors, such as those living with relatives or in homeless shelters. In addition, prisons often charge prisoners for a host of basic living items, and prisoners have a need to protect funds necessary for a successful reentry.