Imagine being thrown in a cage for an overdue library book. 

This is precisely the situation in which a Texas mother of five found herself after she found out there was a warrant for her arrest because she had not returned a book to her local library.

Kaylee Morgan’s ordeal began with a desire to provide educational materials for her homeschooled children. She borrowed a few books from the local library to this end. Little did she know, she would face a difficult pregnancy that would upend her life before being targeted by her local government.

Kaylee Morgan, a wife and a stay-at-home mother of five, rented a few books from the Navasota Public Library in Grimes County, Texas in March of last year.

They were for her homeschooled children.

During that time, Morgan was experiencing a rough pregnancy, dealing with hyperemesis and placenta previa. She didn’t return the books by the due date. She said her husband returned all but one book because it didn’t fit inside the library’s drop box.

What happened next stunned Morgan.

When she went to renew her driver’s license, she found out there was a warrant for a $570 ticket -- yes, $570 ... for overdue books. As she tried to explain the situation to Judge Patricia M. Gruner, Morgan said the judge did not want to hear her “excuses” and said she needed to “take responsibility.”

“This has definitely been stressful. I exclusively breastfed my daughter so now I’m having to navigate pumping in case I get arrested,” she said.

Morgan said when she offered to pay for the missing books, even though they’ve been returned, the judge told her that they were beyond that point in the process and Morgan now needed to make things right.

“She told me that by returning the books late, I had done the equivalent of walking out of Walmart without paying for merchandise,” Morgan wrote on her GoFundMe account. “They now refuse to reinstate my license until I pay the ticket and there is an active warrant out for my arrest in Grimes County.”

Morgan was flabbergasted after realizing she could be facing jail time over a book. “I really didn’t believe it. Like I really thought I’m on Punked or something; this is not true,” she told reporters.

Morgan’s efforts to rectify the issue fell on deaf ears with the judge seeming to believe the mistake was tantamount to a crime. She managed to raise enough money to pay off the fine but is consulting with legal counsel to clear her name.

This is one of billions of reasons why I preach the importance of paying attention to local politics. The notion that a local government would seek to throw someone in a cage over a mistake with a library book reveals a serious problem with Houston’s justice system. Morgan herself pointed out that “There are so many other things we can do as a consequence” for overdue library books.

Moreover, the fact that Morgan faces a misdemeanor charge further illustrates how twisted this system is. Hopefully, this case will highlight the flaws while motivating people to change these policies.