One of the biggest things fueling distrust of police and the court system in Missouri are the
massive amount of fines levied against residents:
To understand some of the distrust of police that has fueled protests in Ferguson, Mo., consider this: In 2013, the municipal court in Ferguson — a city of 21,135 people — issued 32,975 arrest warrants for nonviolent offenses, mostly driving violations.
A new report released the week after 18-year old Michael Brown was shot and killed in Ferguson helps explain why. ArchCity Defenders, a St. Louis-area public defender group, says in its report that more than half the courts in St. Louis County engage in the "illegal and harmful practices" of charging high court fines and fees on nonviolent offenses like traffic violations — and then arresting people when they don't pay. The report singles out courts in three communities, including Ferguson.
As of this week, a collective of civil rights attorneys are
trying to change the system:
The lawsuit, filed Sunday night on the eve of the six-month anniversary of the police shooting of Michael Brown, alleges that the city violates the Constitution by jailing people without adequately considering whether they were indigent and, as a result, unable to pay.
The suit is filed on behalf of 11 plaintiffs who say they were too poor to pay but were then jailed — sometimes for two weeks or more.
One of the plaintiffs, Herbert Nelson Jr., told his story to
The New York Times:
Herbert Nelson Jr. says he was 18 the first time the police pulled him over. The ticket, for speeding, felt small in the moment. But more traffic tickets piled up, as did warrants for failing to appear in court or pay his fines. So Mr. Nelson, now 26, has found himself repeatedly jailed in this St. Louis suburb and in the maze of municipalities nearby — part of a pattern that black residents here complain has grown all too common.
“I’ve been trying to imagine a way out of this for years,” said Mr. Nelson, whose charges include misdemeanor possession of marijuana but mostly a slew of driving violations like failing to use a turn signal or wear a seatbelt and driving with a revoked license. “Something has to happen where you separate minor cases from serious cases. You can’t keep treating normal people with traffic tickets like felons.
“I live a normal life,” he continued. “I have a son. I’m not a bad person. I just don’t have money to pay for all this.”
For the plaintiffs, it is about
breaking the cycle:
Nelson says he can't work because of the arrest warrants. He painted houses. But when he lost his driver's license, he lost his truck and now can't get to work.
His sister Allison Nelson says she's had to put on hold her dreams to join the Navy. The recruiter says she can't enlist until she clears up her outstanding warrants, which would require paying hundreds of dollars she says she doesn't have.
"This is holding so many of these young black kids back, it's ridiculous," says DeBerry. "They can't even get a job because they can't even get a background check, because they have a warrant for traffic tickets only."
Listen to NPR's report on Missouri's excessive tickets and fines
here.
Click here to read more about the ArchCity Defenders. To full text of their lawsuit can be read below the fold.
Ferguson Lawsuit -- Debtors Prison