Page 59 - Impact: Collected Essays on the Threat of Economic Inequality

The Overincarceration of America’s Poor: The Return of Debtors’ Prisons
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Reginald T. Shuford1
The shooting death of Black teenager Michael Brown, by White police officer Darren Wilson, shone a national spotlight on some deeply troublesome practices in Ferguson, Missouri . Brown’s death sparked outrage and helped fortify a movement—#BlackLivesMatter—launched after the acquittal of Trayvon Martin’s killer . BlackLivesMatter, which gained momentum after Brown was killed, demands an end to the unnecessary killing of Black men and accountability when those deaths transpire, particularly at the hands of law enforcement . Brown’s death further spawned an investigation by the United States Department of Justice, which, while exonerating Wilson, nevertheless concluded that “Ferguson law enforcement practices are directly shaped and perpetuated by racial bias .”2 The scathing report found, among other things, that 85 percent of people subjected to vehicle stops are Black .3 Ninety percent of people hit with citations and 93 percent of people arrested are Black, despite Black people comprising only 67 percent of Ferguson’s population .4 Notably, Black residents were 26 percent less likely to be found with contraband than White residents .5
As rare as findings of intentional racial discrimination are these days, another finding was also striking: the Ferguson Police Department works in concert with city officials and the municipal court system to criminalize and generate revenue from Ferguson’s Black residents through excessive ticketing and fines . The investigation concluded that the primary goal of Ferguson’s law enforcement apparatus is not public safety . Rather, it is generating revenue for the city’s coffers:
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City officials routinely urge [Police] Chief [Thomas] Jackson to generate more revenue through enforcement . In March 2010, for instance, the City Finance Director wrote to Chief Jackson that “unless ticket writing ramps up significantly before the end of the year, it will be hard to significantly raise collections next year . . . . Given that we are looking at a substantial sales tax shortfall, it’s not an insignificant issue .” Similarly, in March 2013, the Finance Director wrote to the City Manager: “Court fees are anticipated to rise about 7 .5 % I did ask the Chief if he thought the PD could deliver 10 % increase . He indicated they could try .” The importance of focusing on revenue generation is communicated to FPD officers . Ferguson police officers from all ranks told us that revenue generation is stressed heavily within the police department, and that the message comes from City leadership .6
Executive Director, American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania. I would like to thank my colleagues for their support, wisdom, and inspiration, and most especially their unwavering commitment to fighting for full equality and justice for all Americans. Special thanks to Ryan Very and Devin N. Weber for their research and assistance with this essay.
U.S. dep’T of JusTice: civil righTs division, invesTigaTion of The ferguson police deparTmenT 70 (2015), available at http:// www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/opa/press-releases/attachments/2015/03/04/ferguson_police_department_ report.pdf.
Id. at 4. Id.
Id.
Id. at 2.
Criminal Justice Reform