Page 61 - Impact: Collected Essays on the Threat of Economic Inequality

other ways to run afoul of the law, including “fare-hopping on [the metro], loud music and other noise ordinance violations, zoning violations for uncut grass or unkempt property, violations of occupancy permit restrictions, trespassing, wearing ‘saggy pants,’ business license violations and vague infractions such as ‘disturbing the peace’ or ‘affray’ that give police officers a great deal of discretion to look for other violations .”15 Like Ferguson, many of these municipalities issue nearly as many arrest warrants as there are residents, with some issuing more warrants than residents, including one town (Pine Lawn) that issued 7 .3 warrants per resident .16
A National Problem
This trend of aggressively raising revenue from and incarcerating those who cannot pay is hardly limited to St . Louis County, Missouri . It is, in fact, a nationwide phenomenon, arguably more pronounced in southern states, suggesting the resurgence of modern-day debtors’ prisons throughout the country . According to an analysis by the American Civil Liberties Union, “[i]n some Ohio counties, more than one in five bookings are related to failing to pay fines .”17 In Washington state, as in other places, courts “impose a system of fees, fines and restitution,” all of which “accrue interest and put people at constant risk” of incarceration .18
Like many states, Tennessee started suspending driver’s licenses for unpaid debts stemming from criminal cases, both misdemeanors and more serious felonies . Kenneth Seay, of Lebanon, Tennessee has lost at least four jobs after being jailed for his inability to pay fines and costs related to a revoked driver’s license .19 In addition to the court costs, those who lose their license must pay a reinstatement fee . Like Mr . Seay, many cannot afford these fees and costs but drive anyway, either to get to work or due to poor public transportation . Getting caught restarts the cycle of accumulating fines and fees, jail, and unemployment .
Walter Scott’s fatal shooting by Officer Michael Slager on April 4 in North Charleston, South Carolina, stunned the nation and the world . The incident was caught on video, and Officer Slager has been charged with murder . Mr . Scott’s family has since speculated that he fled out of fear of being jailed for being behind on child support payments . Like municipal fines, child support is another driver of the debtors’ prison phenomenon . Mr . Scott had reason to fear . He had been incarcerated before for back child support, as far back as 2008 and at least twice thereafter .20 At the time of his death, he owed just over $18,000 .21 According to his brother, Rodney, “Every job he has had, he has gotten fired from because he went to jail because he was locked up for child support . He got to the point where he felt like it defeated the purpose .”22
15 Balko, supra note 13.
16 Id.
17 Natalie Hopkinson, War On The Poor, sTand, Winter 2015, at 13, 14.
18 Id.
19 Shaela Dewan, Driver’s License Suspensions Create Cycle of Debt, N.Y. Times (Apr. 14, 2015), http://www.nytimes. com/2015/04/15/us/with-drivers-license-suspensions-a-cycle-of-debt.html?_r=0.
20 Mark Hensch, Documents Show No Warrant for Walter Scott’s Arrest, The hill (Apr. 10, 2015, 10:40 AM), http:// thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/238427-documents-show-no-warrant-for-walter-scotts-arrest.
21 Frances Robles & Shaela Dewan, Skip Child Support. Go to Jail. Lose Job. Repeat., N.Y. Times (Apr. 19, 2015), http:// www.nytimes.com/2015/04/20/us/skip-child-support-go-to-jail-lose-job-repeat.html.
22 Id.
Criminal Justice Reform
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