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St Louis-area municipalities sued over alleged discriminatory 'debtors' prisons'
Source: The Guardian
St Louis-area municipalities sued over alleged discriminatory 'debtors' prisons'
Class-action civil rights suit accuses local officials of unconstitutionally
jailing people to raise state funds in a system that unfairly affects poor
people of color
Tom Kutsch in New York
Wednesday 10 August 2016 14.29 BST
A class-action civil rights lawsuit filed late Tuesday alleges that more than a dozen St Louis-area municipalities are engaged in the discriminatory and unconstitutional practice of jailing people for unpaid debts in order to raise state revenue, a situation the suit says amounts to a system of modern-day “debtors’ prisons” that primarily affects poor residents of color.
The suit alleges a widespread system of local government abuse that targets primarily black communities, where poor people are routinely imprisoned because they cannot escape from the burden of fees generally associated with petty offenses.
“Defendants have created or revived de facto debtors’ prisons, using them as a tool to cow poor people into financing municipal government,” the suit states. “Such flagrant abuse is not consistent with the values this country holds dear, with the rule of law, or with the constitutional guarantee of due process.”
The suit was launched on the second anniversary of the police killing of the unarmed black teenager Michael Brown, whose 2014 death sparked major protests in Ferguson, Missouri, and beyond, and reignited a national debate about the bias against minorities prevalent in the US justice system.
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Class-action civil rights suit accuses local officials of unconstitutionally
jailing people to raise state funds in a system that unfairly affects poor
people of color
Tom Kutsch in New York
Wednesday 10 August 2016 14.29 BST
A class-action civil rights lawsuit filed late Tuesday alleges that more than a dozen St Louis-area municipalities are engaged in the discriminatory and unconstitutional practice of jailing people for unpaid debts in order to raise state revenue, a situation the suit says amounts to a system of modern-day “debtors’ prisons” that primarily affects poor residents of color.
The suit alleges a widespread system of local government abuse that targets primarily black communities, where poor people are routinely imprisoned because they cannot escape from the burden of fees generally associated with petty offenses.
“Defendants have created or revived de facto debtors’ prisons, using them as a tool to cow poor people into financing municipal government,” the suit states. “Such flagrant abuse is not consistent with the values this country holds dear, with the rule of law, or with the constitutional guarantee of due process.”
The suit was launched on the second anniversary of the police killing of the unarmed black teenager Michael Brown, whose 2014 death sparked major protests in Ferguson, Missouri, and beyond, and reignited a national debate about the bias against minorities prevalent in the US justice system.
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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/aug/10/st-louis-civil-rights-lawsuit-debtors-prisons-african-americans
