Most of the people profiled likely voted for Trump and have a congenital disdain for black people or any laws that seek to protect those without power or money.
So they can enjoy the situations they're in, secure in the knowledge that somewhere, someplace, blacks are getting it worse.
3
Well at least this time an article about abuse of poor people featured white people. So tired of similar articles using Black people for the poster children of such stories. Hey! Poor white people actually exist! Many abused by the same system
4
Just confirmed what I strongly suspected. Alcorn County went 80% for Trump. With the poverty rate cited in the article there was a lot of voting against their economic self interests going on. And from the looks of it MAGA has not arrived after two years. So sad.
6
Poor people always seem to have money for cigarettes, dope, liquor, and tatoos.
6
Who says we no longer have debtors prisons!
6
Jamie Tillman in Corinth, Miss. “I thought, Because we’re poor, because we’re of a lower class, we aren’t allowed real freedom.”
There is no real freedom for anyone. Period.
2
This is shameful...I thought the cruel & harsh days of Charles Dickens and John Steinbeck were in the past...apparently not. This is not civilized. This is not what America is supposed to be.
6
Disgusting. "This is America." While many have it good, most don't. 40 % of Americans can't muster 400.00. That is nearly half the population. So much for the myth of the American dream.
9
Think it's Trump?
Trump's just the naked lunch.
1
This is is a wide-spread practice in so many towns and cities across the U.S. I have a family member who started a bail bond fund in Tucson, Az to help poor people of color who are being incarcerated our there for being poor. The fund has been quite successful as more and more people realize these modern day debtors prison exists throughout the country.
6
This makes no sense. Marketplace.org reports that it costs between $31000 and $64000 per year to incarcerate a person, which amounts to from $85 to $164 per day. That means that for many of the individuals mentioned in this article, the cost of incarceration exceeds the debt after 1 or 2 days. The practice becomes even more blatantly discriminating when you realize it is nothing more than a shift on a balance sheet.
6
Corinth at its finest. Has always been this way and will not be changed.
4
They’ve been doing this to black folks for generations but now that it’s happening to white people it’s a story.
It’s unfortunate that Ms. Tillman finds herself in this situation due to drug use and a cascade of poor decisions.
It’s unfortunate that it’s not just in the South but towns all over the country where this kind of a ridiculous attempt to fatten the municipal coffers rests on the backs of poor people of whatever color.
It does, however, re-establish the old saw “Don’t do the crime if you can’t do the time” or in this case pay the fine.
2
It’s horrible, but the poor in Mississipi overwhelming vote republican. The have been republican since 1976, the control all houses in Mississipi. The one district that is controlled by a democrat fares better than the others, but not by much as they don’t control local judges. Mississippians voted overwhelmingly to “make America great again”, like Appalachia, they shoot themselves in the foot over and over again. This is the result.
3
I am a retired RN,and for years had planned on trips to the Smokey Mountains,and to tour the South.Knowing that the South overwhelmingly supported trump, and articles like this,I have NO desire to visit those areas.Though I am white and middle-class,I would be too frightened.
3
Sadistic government.
6
This is a suburb of my hometown. I find it sad that residents don’t understand mental illness. Editorial alert: The judge retired last July. What ever happened to fact-checking?
3
It is absolutely disgusting what this nation has become.
And to reach my ripe old age and to suddenly realize it is SO much worse than I ever knew. The recent political climate has enabled and encouraged all the, for years, hidden bile & poison to come Bubbling out. This is "Exceptionalism" ? We are just barely holding our noses above the swamp and slipping fast.
" The trouble is locating the offending courts " Really ? I think I would gladly spend my waning ears helping find those offending courts. What can we do to help ?
8
I thought debtor's prison was a thing of the past.
Guess not...
9
A giant, Solange MacArthur. MD of the philantropist family (died in 2012). She with her brother J. Roderick, founded their own justice center based in Chicago. Both were grandchildren of the John D and Catherine T and children of J. Roderick. She worked full time as a doctor and managed this offshoot of her father's passion. She loved dance and funded the building of studios in Catskills and Maryland and supported the artists. I just learned about her in 2018 from a Times article on dance. Her grandfather founded the genius fellows. She stayed in the limelight and sought free reins from her grandfather's foundation. Here is proof of the great work she did thru the center.
https://www.tiki-toki.com/timeline/entry/313587/Roderick-and-Solange-MacArthur-Justice-Center/
4
One very important point that the article made, but didn’t emphasize:
Don't some European countries base fines on a percentage of your income? So that crime hurts the rich somewhat in proportion as the poor. Here, those with means can park and drive recklessly because they can easily pay the fines and lawyers. They won't lose their jobs, even if they have to take a day off for court.
When I've had conversations with colleagues the response is typical - "why should the poor get off easy if they broke the same law as me?".
Politically, why not soak these petty criminals - after all "don't do the crime if you can't do the time (or pay the fine)" - the rich can afford to be glib.
4
Hasn't this paradigm of the way cities operate been fully explored in the Ferguson, Missouri case, and hasn't there been a wave of public revulsion that has brought about reform?
1
The poor sometime DO make bad choices but jailing them is not a good answer. By the way, I once stayed on night in Corinth on the way to see Vicksburg Battlefield. The bed and breakfast was wonderful, but Corinth and the surrounding towns are at best dumps. It is sad that we brag about being the greatest country in the world while we have entrenched and desperate poor.
12
"The costs of housing and feeding inmates can be subsidized by the state"
Still housing an inmate must cost way more than 5 to 25 dollars a day. For the community as a whole it's not only unjust it's economically insane.
5
I am glad to see this article. At the same time why is there no mention of New York's way of milking poor people in its Criminal Justice System? Part of my work is represent indigent defendants charged with misdemeanors and the imposed surcharges, fines, charges for educational programs and, especially, bail can be oppressive on this e unable to pay for them. Some things have already been done to remedy this situation, and more reform is being worked on. In the meantime, a lot more has to change and if the mainstream media does not continue to confront this injustice in our "Justice" system, it will continue to be oppressive.
P.S. And providing treatment instead of imposing incarceration, while very helpful, because it often requires defendants to pay even thousands of $$, in one sense only substitutes one form of punishment for another.
4
I recall walking through a park before my surgery for spinal stenosis. My symptoms were back pain and numbness in one leg. Obviously I was walking quite awkwardly but adequately. Then I was detained by two police officers for public intoxication. Neither had ever heard of spinal stenosis so my explanation wasn’t much help.
Fortunately as I was being led to their car an acquaintance stepped up and intervened. She explained the symptoms and challenged them to use a breathalyzer before taking me.
At this point one of them physically pushed me away saying, “you got off this time but we’ve got our eyes on you “.
Note that I am not poor and would have been able to afford an attorney.
16
The obvious question is why she was even arrested in the first place? The police could have escorted her from the library with an admonishment against sleeping in the library and continued on their way.
13
$155 processing fee?! How is that legal?
8
It's the American way!
Ask all the American billionaire oligarchs who should pay for everything and they will tell you the poor. The American system is to have the poor guilty of everything and paying for everything. Love that capitalism.
7
Not mentioned: How much does it cost the taxpayers to incarcerate the poor? Maybe people won't get outraged when "bums" get locked up but they would when they got the bill for it. The companies the run jails and prisons probably make out big time from this practice and their campaign contributions to elected judges keep them locking up those unable to defend themselves. The Times should follow the money on this story.
9
I am 61 years old, I have never been unemployed, I have never been arrested. I see these poor wretches that can't keep a job, are covered in tattoos, have expensive smart phones, doing drugs and getting arrested while claiming the role of victim. I wonder why? It isn't easy to work hard all your life and stay out of trouble, maybe they need to try it.
3
Wow, the guy does not have money to pay for traffic tickets but can afford to pay for several tattoos.
4
Replying to “common sense guy”
from “America”
As you might know, tattoos are permanent, and none of Mr. Howell’s
look brand-new, or at all expensive.
Did it not cross your mind that he might have gotten them years before the traffic tickets? Not common- sensical enough,or were you too eager to jeer at an American imprisoned for his inability to pay three tickets?
You really ought to get together with the cop who paused his car to laugh at Mr. Howell, as he crawled next to the road. The two of you could discuss irresponsibility, common sense, and America.
9
We could probably use CAF to nab all assets of the Trump Crime Organization.
4
Somethings seem to never change. And yet we talk about Russia.
It sounds like 1946 SE where my army CPT father always drove with a $20 bill in his wallet and the rest under the inner soles of his shoes. “You were driving 1 mph over the speed limit! Here is your $20 ticket. You can pay it now or wait in jail till the Justice gets back from fishing in a couple of weeks.”
1960. Several Seven Sisters coeds I knew were stopped in the Carolinas during spring break on their way to Ft Lauderdale. The bail was higher than they were carrying. They were placed in a cell with a large violent lesbian who molested them. They were given the choice of being rented out by visiting salesmen for sex and using that money to start posting parts of bail towards release. The amounts paid by the salesmen were piddling, taking about 5 days and 20 customers but not as bad as being molested by their cell mate for several weeks till the ‘judge returned’.
This turned out to be common for several of the towns. It not only brought money to pay for law enforcement but enriched the nearby motels—some owned by the mayor, police chief, and other prominent locals.
I did not realize that Washington State is among the worst.
4
It’s too bad that this report focused on the southern part of the country. It’s implies, without stating so, that the northern part of the nation is somehow more enlightened.
I used to run a restaurant in Fairfield County, Connecticut, the County with the highest wealth disparity between rich and poor in the nation.
At least once a week, I could count on “Inspecter Javert” showing up, unannounced, demanding that I not only produce employees delinquent on their child support payments, but also requiring me to withhold up to 75% of their paychecks to reimburse the state.
Usually, the past due amount was money owed to the state, in the form of state health insurance provided to the child that the father was unable to provide.
The monthly premiums for the child’s insurance coverage quickly skyrocketed to the point that it was common for uneducated (but hardworking men) to owe $30 to $40 thousand to the state for unpaid health insurance premiums.
And these men were mostly making $15 an hour working hard physical labor in a kitchen.
I kept one full-time employee on the payroll even though, after state deductions for child support, he had $75 a week to live on in one of the most expensive parts of the country, and survived by sleeping on couches.
Big surprise - he started stealing from the cash register and I had to fire him anyway.
Inspector Javert, with his guaranteed government salary, benefits and pension could not have been more vicious or judgmental.
We’ve lost our humanity.
11
US always money for war and space force.
This culture of "poor choices" is reversible. Allowed to fester, the kids growing up in it suffer and the US is weaker overall. There are programs and people making a difference, yet our leaders continually berate the poor choice crowd while making sure their own children get the best schools, best neighborhoods, beset connections.
According to a Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report published in October 2007, the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan could cost taxpayers a total of $2.4 trillion by 2017 when counting the huge interest costs because combat is being financed with borrowed money.
4
@kat perkins where did that 2.4 trillion go? Salaries for soldiers and sailors, equipment and arms manufactured by highly paid defense industry workers, etc.
1
So what do you do with people that don't follow the laws and then spend their money on drugs and alcohol? What's going to be their deterrent? Get rid of the laws if some classes of people don't have to follow them anymore.
We are the " Land of the free and home of the brave" which means you are free to make bad decisions. TV's Beretta show theme song said "Don't do the crime, if you cant do the time - Yeah, don't do it."
Very little of the story made me mad at the system. It just shows you how poorly our education system is in training people for the world.
6
Yes, we are all shocked. And when this issue again appears after a 6 month hiatus, we'll all be shocked all over again.
What is the solution?
Would I, as a young woman, accept voluntary sterilization as a way to be sure I could work and not have children I couldn't support or educate? Could you offer me enough money for me todo that? Could you offer me a college education? Could you offer me a land grant? All of these are valuable exchanges but what we have now is give and get nothing back.
Why does the national law not recognize that traffic fines are out of proportion to the income of the violator? Why is there not a flat fine, no additions, for people without valid incomes like judges, lawyers, doctors, real estate professionals, police and firemen and teachers? Why is not a traffic fine erased after a year instead of being able to cause a warrant 20 years later?
Why does this issue keep returning?
5
This is done to support these counties on the backs of the poor rather than raise taxes
10
The towns have not figured out it Is more expensive to keep some one in jail for a $5 or $25 fine credit?
5
Slavery in another form!
65
This is merely a part of a larger story. Sheriff's want to have nice new jails with a bunch of employees needed to run the jail. Jail architects and builders come to the sheriff and whisper in their ear you can have a new jail without having to go to the taxpayers for a vote, just fill your new jail with prisoners who pay a daily fee assessed and enforced by the courts. Build a bigger jail and house prisoners from other counties and the feds and charge enough to pay for the jail. Again, no vote of the taxpayers. Also add on jail services charged to the inmate ... telephone services with a kick back to the sheriff's office, inmate commissary run by a third party ... want some soap .. pay up ... want money in your account ... pay a service charge ... all along the sheriff office gets a kick back; need medical care ... provided by third party billed to medicaid ... kick back to sheriff office. If you want to really investigate this you have to start with why and how much jail is built. Without the prisoners the economics of having such a large and new jail don't work. These are generally bonded. Get a copy of the consultants study needed to justify the bond. Do this over many jails. One of the findings will be that often the architects and consultants work together time and time again. The consultants are rarely truly independent. The judge and the courts are merely the tip of the iceberg. They have a problem (people breaking the law) and need a better solution.
8
This is merely a part of a larger story. Sheriff's want to have nice new jails with a bunch of employees needed to run the jail. Jail architects and builders come to the sheriff and whisper in their ear you can have a new jail without having to go to the taxpayers for a vote, just fill your new jail with prisoners who pay a daily fee assessed and enforced by the courts. Build a bigger jail and house prisoners from other counties and the feds and charge enough to pay for the jail. Again, no vote of the taxpayers. Also add on jail services charged to the inmate ... telephone services with a kick back to the sheriff's office, inmate commissary run by a third party ... want some soap .. pay up ... want money in your account ... pay a service charge ... all along the sheriff office gets a kick back; need medical care ... provided by third party billed to medicaid ... kick back to sheriff office. If you want to really investigate this you have to start with why and how much jail is built. Without the prisoners the economics of having such a large and new jail don't work. These are generally bonded. Get a copy of the consultants study needed to justify the bond. Do this over many jails. One of the findings will be that often the architects and consultants work together time and time again. The consultants are rarely truly independent. The judge and the courts are merely the tip of the iceberg. They have a problem (people breaking the law) and need a better solution.
1
I was equally fascinated to find that when someone gets put on probation, they are expected to cough up $50 or maybe more by now, every time they see their probation officer. If they don't, they get put back in jail. And the reality is, many folks in small towns who go to jail have substance abuse issues that land them there, and this stressor only exacerbates the problem. Plus, it becomes a police problem. These folks are then known by the cops and the cops spend their time rooting out these people who don't show up for their probation meetings because they don't have the money, and putting them back in jail. Talk about a waste of a precious resource, from the police to the trouble souls who, without a restorative program, are left to their own self limiting devices to pull them out of a vicious irrational traumatizing system.
Is that really what we want? Seems pretty silly. Ok, stupid. That's what I really want to call it. Insane, as in doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Pretty sure the 50 bucks isn't covering the cost of the incarceration and more.
7
Every fiscal quarter the SEC routinely fines our largest financial institutions hundreds of millions of dollars for fraud or graft. Nobody ever goes to jail.
Why can't the government take 1/4 or 1/2 a percentage point of those mammoth fines and create a legal defense fund? I don't care who administers it.. ACLU- NAACP - but lets start paying off these ridiculous fines and get these people out of jail. Especially the single moms who are locked up over an unpaid parking ticket.
This is an absolute outrage!
7
i survived
This isn’t civilization, this is Lord Of The Flies.
5
I’m sure if it was legally doable NY and NJ would embrace debtors prison time whole heartily!!
5
I've been a pediatrician in rural appalachia for 30 years. Sad to say, the poor white population of the south always fell for the myth of racial superiority, which enabled the white power structure to have a free ride over these folks who never recognized the problem was not the dark skinned folks on the other side of town. Of course this mentality exists in rural michigan as well as rural tennessee, Jamaica, queens, etc etc-- but its origins go back to slavery. The heritage of racism touches and poisons every nook and cranny of this country. And of course, now that the drug problem affects us white folks its a national emergency. Heroin and crack in minority ghettos- not so much.
80
Americans often forget that many, many of our ancestors were Irish or others sent to America as ‘indentured servants’ until their debts back home and the costs of their passage were paid off.
The English of the moneyed and titled contempt for the common man made slavery that much easier to support.
6
@[email protected] steve and ramonwhat can actually be done about the painful lives of the decent people who continue paying the price of racism and poverty? aside from my votes at the ballot box to try to influence social justice, and my small donations to organizations who try to help, how can ordinary people like me actually help the individuals we just read about?
1
"Welcome to the American Dream"... vile exploitation of the poor.
3
This article is mis leading , implying this happens mostly in rual cities and town ,,,, This same behavior occurs in big blue cities as well but with more hypocrisy , . The same politicians in big cities speak out of one side of their mouth how they are helping poor people, and other side they vote for the system to that screws the poor person
2
This is an important and valid article, but isn't this happening in New York City as well, a city where, as I recall, the police accidentally killed a man resisting arrest for the crime of selling "black market" cigarettes, a practice made lucrative by New York's "insanely" high tax on smokes? Or how about Washington, DC, where I live, where trivial traffic violations cost $100 or more? Why doesn't the Times save itself some money and report what's happening in the Big Apple instead of Corinth, Miss?
4
For those interested, Joe Soss and colleagues wrote an excellent, highly acclaimed book on this very topic called "Disciplining the Poor: Neoliberal Paternalism and the Persistent Power of Race" in 2011. The only bad thing about Soss' book is his title, which is too academic sounding for a more general audience, and would keep most people away from reading it than this more succinct NYT title: "How cities make money by finding the poor". Put neoliberal in the title and I think you lose 3/4 of your potential audience. But it's very readable - a book length examination of this phenomenon described in this NYT magainze piece. Still surprised the NYT didn't interview him or his colleagues for this otherwise great article though.
4
Yeah, let's not enforce any laws.
That will work out great, no doubt.
2
Write about private equity and $155 processing fees. Private equity has fueled ridiculous municipal cash grabs. Ugly America.
2
this is outrageous!
If we so proudly declare ourselves to be a "country of laws" why on earth are judges ignoring 3 Supreme Court decisions?
I fully support and admire the work SPLC and the ACLU do, but it seems to me a faster way of achieving the desired results might be for them to contact State Attorney Generals, demanding Supreme Court rulings be forwarded to each and every courthouse in their state? (or volunteering to do so themselves, if necessary?)
I this day and age, when my software is updated automatically, why in heaven's name are all courts across the country NOT made aware of changes in the law?
Country of laws, right?
52
Living in Corinth, this is life. Much as we hate this.
2
The poor have been subsidizing everyone else in many ways for many years. Take banking. Who is more likely to overdraw their account, someone who is poor or someone who is well off? Who is disproportionately affected by punitive fees? Who will have to pay a monthly charge because they can't maintain a large balance? Who is more likely to be given a high interest rate?
Or retail. Who is more likely to be in a food desert where the only store within walking distance is a convenience store with sky-high prices? Who is more likely to pay more for the same items in their neighborhood because the distributors charge more just to travel in that area?
We are all benefiting from the disproportionate burden of those living hand-to-mouth in this country. Doesn't seem much different from the feudal days, when landowners worked their serfs to death. Now we just bankrupt them.
4
The real sickening thing is that at least in Corinth they are able to see the fines not increase, and be resolved with jail time. In many localities all over this nation, people's fines have been outsourced to private organizations and are jailed for non payment as they increase to thousands of dollars they will never be able to pay, and costing taxpayers millions on both sides.
4
My question is how as a society can we curb improper or harmful behavior of others?
The social stigma of being drunk or on drugs in a library, allowing your children to skip school or using utilities you havnt paid for or otherwise be a burden clearly doesn’t work.
Asking nicely doesn’t work either. So after exhausting the carrot, we’re left with using the stick.
I’m past generations with a serious work ethic people wouldn’t have multiple kids if they couldn’t afford them and would certainly work no matter the job or pay to provide for those they do.
I empathize with the poor and realize a certain amount of systemic bias is against them however without some sort of punishment there would be no incentive for anyone to do anything and we’d end up in an anarchical wasteland.
2
There is a correlation between the reddest parts of the country and the poorest. Wake up people, and start voting in your best interests, not those of the wealthy trumpists.
3
Everybody at all income levels pays these fines and court costs. They are not a tax on the poor. The incarcerations are the piece that weighs on the poor. If it is a money-making process, anyone that can do 7th grade algebra can see the poor are not the major funders of it.
1
This article caught my attention because of the shock value and the real misery poor people suffer, but ignored willingly or unwillingly. I immigrated here years before and had to learn English to settle down, so I have such perspective.
First, the problem of drug addiction - this article does not squarely face the problem that appears to be the root cause. I know this in any metropolitan area. So, thanks for presenting the problem, without any clue how to deal with it.
Second, is this society has lost control over poverty problem - there is no means of enforcing people away from vagrancy or homelessness. Legal system also remain helpless to deal with poverty and drug problems, as explained by this article.
Third, many argues free-market system even to these real problems and leave it to the free will of the drug addicts and poverty stricken families (or both) to dig themselves out of the hole. With the kind of complexity and ruthless system that preys on the have-nots and heavy reliance of jailing them, the so called free wills of people is an excuse leaving them to their fate.
Society needs to admit these as problems and admit that there is failure in these regards, before it begins to change laws and systems to cure itself. But there is no admission or movement to do so. I am just saying.
2
Doesn't it cost more to incarcerate these individuals than what they hope to collect?
3
I thought my family was "middle class", although that does not truly apply anymore. My paternal grandparents, Ashkenazi Jews from (what is now) Vilnius, Lithuania. They immigrated through Ellis Island to the Lower East Side of NY City in the late 19th Century. After 3 years of servitude as a tailor, they moved to Ft. Worth, TX, and founded a little tailor shop. My father and his 4 siblings grew up there.. My mother was from South Louisiana, born in a very small town (it no longer exists) and was raised in a section of Lake Charles her great-grandfather "Captain Goos" had founded, called "Goosport". He was a sea captain of Danish ancestry; Born on the island of Fyr, off the coast of Denmark. His wife bore him 15 children; all of whom lived to adulthood; a miracle in the early to mid 19th Century. He brought thousands of immigrants to New Orleans and Galveston, the largest/busiest ports on the southern coast of the US then. He is mentioned in "Isaac's Storm"; a very well written account of the worst natural disaster in US history: "The Great Hurricane of 1900" which struck Galveston Island head on, and had no warning. 6,000 to 10,000 people died. The storm surge came far inland; over 5 to 10 miles. It knocked a passenger train off the tracks, killing everyone. My then 3 year old great aunt survived this storm on Galveston. Apologies for digressing. My family was poor, but not dirt poor. My dad was a WWII vet, & used the GI Bill to buy a new 3 BR home. The south can be very bad.
1
Local governments across the nation have become tyrannies for constituents.Not only in fines like the ones mentioned here but with code enforcement as well.Where local government will take your property after a kangaroo court hearing by political hacks.And forget about defending yourself in court-legal fees are unaffordable.
2
I have a friend who married into a family of individuals identical to those described in the article. Aside from illness many of the problems Experienced by his in laws were self inflicted, drugs;alcoholism; unwanted pregnancies; degenerate gambling, etc. it was a litany of excuses. Something tells me that the people in the article had opioid issues. Something also tells me that these people are MAGA supporters!
There is no doubt that the poor have to jump over hurdles that are much easier to navigate to those with greater means.
That said, we can't just point the blame on governments. While governments are no doubt taking advantage of those from whom they can to most easily extort court fees, people like Ms. Tillman need to vigilant in staying above the law and beyond reproach from ready-to-pounce law enforcement officials. People like Ms. Tillman need to make themselves marketable. There are plenty of jobs for those who aren't especially smart but who possess the drive to outwork others. Ms. Tillman needs to be that person. She does have that in her control.
We can't just blame victimhood on the issue.
1
Jailing someone for a $100 fine, or even a $1000 fine, is just insane. From figures I've seen, it costs about $100 per day to keep someone in jail. I suspect that the private, for profit prison system is playing a heavy hand here. Else jailing one indigent for his $100 fine wipes out 20 fine payments if the payment rate is set at $5.00 per incarcerated day.
2
Instead of continually asking why poor, disempowered, disenfranchised rural and small town people "vote against their own interests" after millions of dollars are spent on the main media to which they have access to convince them to do just that, or after progressives do such a thorough job of ignoring the millions of them who did NOT vote GOP, or after presenting them pro-corporate, pro-Wall Street candidates one after another, why don't we ask why over-served New Yorkers continue to SPEAK against their own interests in defiance of their own stayed goals over and over?
1
I think this is what America has become: becoming poor is a sin and punishment. More than two centuries ago, the freedom literally meant not being oppressed by monarchs, masters, or kings. Nowadays, the word 'freedom' has transcended in various form of ignorance. It's their freedom to pursue either a rich or poor life; it's their fault for being poor; it's their fault recklessly having sex and give birth; it's their fault for not getting the proper level of education.
C'mon American..let's be more nice to each other. I am not saying that everyone to give free stuff or bring all poor people in their house, but let's have some degree of empathy to people need at least.
2
One has to wonder how much these petty laws an immoral enforcement practices have contributed to the lack of faith Americans have in their own government. When all you see of your state is an endless array of fines or the inside of a jail cell, how can you be blamed for hating government as a whole.
3
Weren’t debtors’ prisons outlawed in the 18th c.?
2
Government of the people; by the rich and for the rich.
3
I was wondering, reading this, when the issue of for-profit private prisons would come up. There was a mention of "public safety" being a robust portion of the city budget. But no explanation. Someone must be making money off these people, and it probably costs more to jail them than their fines are worth.
7
This is what happens when people think that this country was organized for the purposes of capitalism and a free market. People will fight to protect the idea of ultimate responsibility for everyone but themselves.
2
Fines should be proportionate to income, as is the case in certain Nordic countries.
When income is close to zero, community service is probably the most effective punishment. If the person is incapable of performing even basic community service, there are clearly physical or mental health issues that need to be addressed, and that should be the priority.
But having people spend time in jail to pay off fines? That’s not only barbaric, but it makes bad financial sense, both for the state and the incarcerated person. The effects ripple outward and end up being magnified dramatically (both in the current timeframe and across generations).
14
One thing that seems to be missing from this discussion is a recognition of the empirical evidence suggesting that it is really a myth that people can climb from lower social classes to others. You can predict a person's future socioeconomic class fairly easily given information about them that is totally beyond their control (zip code they live in, education of parents, etc). Additionally, the notion that we have "free will" to completely change our future outcomes is also essentially a myth. Obviously there are anecdotal stores about poor people becoming rich, but I think that the reason these get so much attention is that they are extremely rare. Similarly, the reverse is true. Completely ordinary, unaccomplished people can end up president. IQ is another variable that isn't something you can change about yourself. To a certain extent these stories are entirely predictable and should require that we rethink what "justice" really means in this context.
6
In 1977 ( 42 years ago) I left the Lane County Jail in Eugene , where I worked, as an adult corrections officer for 18 months. Fresh out of college, I knew that custodial corrections was not for me. Moving to Portland, I was hired to run the fledgling Alternative Community Service Program...funded by the federal Comprehensive Employment and Training Act. Simply put, rather than sentence indigent offenders to jail the court gave them time to pay or the option of doing community service work for one of 175 non profits in the Portland area. The program is an success and generates enormous benefit for the places offenders worked to this day. In then 1981 Governor Vic Atiyeh signed the Community Service Act giving explicit statutory authority for the practice of community service sentencing statewide ,and thereby, allowing all 36 counties to standardize the number of hours for the various types of offenses, and provide standardized penalties for non compliance. Rarely ever did failure to comply result in jail time. Over time, due to revenue shortfalls, administrative one time only fees were imposed which allowed for the hiring of additional staff. I cannot help but wonder why, with program models such as these nationwide, Corinth didn't do this long ago. Poor people are just that: poor. They don't as a rule have any disposable income. Jailing them costs money. Allowing them the opportunity to make "symbolic restitution" to the community generates benefit and saves money.
17
Let me try to understand this. Corinth and numerous other cities are so desperate for revenue that they must rely on police to collect it through traffic enforcement. They issue citations to indigent people who can't pay the fines. Judges assess them additional fees; and when the defendants can't pay they send them to jail for months.
So because the people police ticket don't have money to pay the original fine, the judge charges them additional fees they can't pay either. Because they can't pay the fines and the fees, they sentence those defendants to lengthy terms in jail, which costs the city an unspecified amount per day. And if they insist on recovering those costs (with profit) by charging an exorbitant fee for each day, prisoners won't be able to pay that either.
There must be some logic to this apparently ubiquitous practice of cities going to such length to extract revenue from the people who are least able to provide it. But that logic is entirely opaque to me.
9
Ockham’s razor says the logic is this: It is about punishment. The money just is an excuse for cruelty.
1
Judge Ross was a school classmate of mine in Corinth. My father was the executive officer of the Mississippi National Guard in the 1960's. My grandfather held many political offices in this area. I lived in New York City for 40 years and now live in Corinth again. There is nothing inappropriate or inaccurate about this article, but Corinth is a much more attractive community than you would conclude reading this. Corinth not only has a sense of history going back to the Civil War but more importantly it has an intact physical structure reflecting the character of early twentieth century American towns. The downtown was bypassed by modern development and left largely as it originally developed. The core commercial and residential area has sidewalks used when everyone walked to work and shop downtown. Like much of Mississippi, Corinth does not have a dynamic economy, but this is a contributing factor to the enduring character of the town. Those of us who would like to see more economic opportunities for young people develop in this area would hope that the positive qualities that exist here will not be overshadowed by highlighting the weak side.
4
@Robert Gray
I too grew up in Corinth, and know Bob Gray, and know Johnny Ross, who – not to argue against any of the truths in this article – I have always known to be a kind man. I am surprised to know more of how the accused are treated in his court, but, more to the point, I believe, how they are neglected in his – and OUR – all of our – justice system.
I do not say that this report does not reveal what is horrible, and inexcusable about that system, and its executors. But this is a rampant condition for the way the poor and the disadvantage are treated all over this country. Rampant. We are also reminded in Matthew Shaer's reporting of the ways this kind of “news” works. A problem is WIDE spread, someone knows someone who knows someone who knows an example of it somewhere, and a reporter starts pursuing that one lead. The example is true, and it is “representative”, but in being one instance among thousands, hundreds of thousands, millions, all over this country (Shaer made a slight nod to that at the end of his writing) it’s also inaccurate.
I kept imagining Johnny Ross sitting with Shaer in his living room (which I have sat in, real gentlemanly-like, sipping bourbon), flummoxed, but being very polite. And, I want to believe, listening and becoming all too aware of how his laws, our laws, often foment a neglectful humanity.
2
The majority of folks in our City jail are there for inability to pay fines, associated fees or bail. There are woman who have been in the jail for over 9 years w/out sentencing. The situation is beyond tragic. Our jail is so overwhelmed folks are being put in temp facilities with cots and no cells. I was in the jail for three days due to my identity being stolen. No calls but collect (so no calls to cell phones). No fresh water in our cell block. It was shocking and horrific.
11
We keep hearing how municipalities are accessing fines to make money and then if people can't pay they're locked up in jail, which costs the government money.
If making money is the point, why would they lock people up? So obviously it's not simply about making money.
5
These people are a tiny subset of the population assessed fines. Everybody else pays.
1
I was aware of much of the dysfunction in the criminal justice system, but I'm always newly disgusted and outraged by it. This article is excellent! Most of my limited funds for charitable giving have gone to homeless services/shelters and NPR. I now want to add the Southern Poverty Law Center to my giving... this article evidenced the tremendous work they are doing, not just in the South, but across the country. Sadly they have so much more work to do and I really want to help them; I don't think there is a greater crisis in America than what they working to fix.
17
@Ted A
SPLC is absolutely deserving of our donations!
Kudos to you for taking positive action after reading this article. We can put our money behind our concerns and activism as well as continue to talk about this grave injustice on the poor. I'm joining you in adding SPLC to my list of charities and I encourage all other readers outraged by what this article describes, to do the same.
3
In a country in love with our "up by the bootstraps" narrative that leads to mass incarceration of a significant percentage of our population, we will never solve problems such as this one. Are there solutions? Yeah, staring straight at us, but we will never accept them. We are too proud, too exceptional, and too ignorant in our own right to accept and alter reality for the better. So we just locked them up and talk about the problem.
8
Well how else are you going to provide the for profit prison system with customers? It's always about the profit. And poor people are the best source, they can't afford the lawyers that could protect them against such practices.
15
What's with a "processing fee" of $155 added to a fine of $100?
24
The article is outstanding and yes, we cannot be tossing impoverished people in the joint for an inability to pay fines. But, the person highlighted in the story, Jamie Tillman, is an example of, well, something that left a bad taste in my mouth. She has 3 kids to 2 guys. Forget about marriage. The grandmothers of these children have custody, not Jamie, not the fathers. And I assume that neither Jamie nor the fathers are helping to pay for the kids. And she is alienated from both of her parents, probably because they've bailed her out a million times. Jamie's life seems rootless, except to follow some useless ex boyfriends. She's got a drug problem and an alcohol problem, and maybe some mental problems, along with minor brushes with the law. I can guess that Jamie has cost society a fortune. And, of course, no one will hire her due to her legal problems.
What is fair for her when her choices have led her to a hard life. If I have to pay a $100.00 fine for speeding, should the next person be exempt because they are someone like Jamie. Part of me thinks that jail is a safer place for Jamie than the rootless existence she leads now.
This getting old and crabby is for the birds. I really am a compassionate person.
11
I will just say that I also considered those points of Jamie’s unfortunate personal history (children, family estrangement, no partner or husband).
And then I thought, this is a mentally ill person, who, in a more compassionate and socially responsible society would have healthcare treatment options and regular counseling to stabilize her—at the very least using a harm-reduction method.
In another society she would not be homeless and suffering from insurmountable debt (for her) due to civil fines, regular and repeated incarcerations, and the inability to obtain or hold a job.
Then there is the gentleman with cancer and Hep-C...and the fines and debt and basic transportation he needs in order to receive life-saving chemotherapeutic treatment.
This is a cruel and abusive society—and I don’t just mean Corinth, but all of the other municipalities across the USA very likely wringing pennies and jail time from the desperate, and most vulnerable among their so-called ‘communities.’
This amount of calculated cruelty definitely serves a purpose, which is to make money for someone—whether that is food service, security, police, private prisons, or slave labor (which we do have in our prisons).
This story is infuriating and I am disgusted at the callousness of the so-called educated or ‘refined’ people like Judge Ross, who I’m sure considers himself to be a good and likely ‘Christian’ man (considering the locale in the heart of the Old South).
3
I agree. And for God's sake, if she's sprung from jail, she needs an IUD. Pronto. I feel sorry for her kids and for hardworking slobs having to foot the bill for Ms. Tillman's irresponsibility.
2
@Jon B. Your letter is good. To be honest, I think that the writer of this article was a bit charmed by Jamie and was unwilling to ask tough questions of her. Does she have Medicaid? I doubt that her 3 kids were born in the street. Is she mentally Ill? Does she receive medical care? My sense is that she was an angry, rebellious girl with deep holes in her soul that just cannot be cured with a bit of counseling and some meds.
Do I think that we can be compassionate? Sure. I believe that a simplified bankruptcy should be allowed to erase her debts. She should be guided to proper medical and mental care. And rehab and job training and placement. But I don't think those things will work. But no matter what society does with or for her, she will cost society a lot of money. Sometimes people end up in the big house and they are forced to participate in all these things to turn their lives around. Maybe that structure is what she needs. For certain, nothing seems to be working for her now.
1
What if communities couldn’t get budget money from the state or feds to feed and house people who are in essentially debtors’ prison?
Also these people have in some way actually committed crimes. Come up with a payment plan or a way to work it off. In truth it’s not fair that some people do pay their speeding tickets and car registrations and their kids’ meals at school, etc. Perhaps living wages, less job discrimination.... Lots of problems to tackle!
So glad in America we still have the right to talk about them.
1
Some one who can afford drugs can afford the fines. If they can afford the gas to drive, they can afford the fine when they drive dangerously and get pulled over. The excuses flow way to much on this one. Not really feeling sorry for anyone here.
7
@Tom in Illinois
"Not really feeling sorry for anyone here."
You're part of the problem. Just wait, someone you know may be affected by the prison-for-profit system or any other civil rights infraction. Then maybe you'll be concerned. Even if that doesn't happen, on a macro level, this affects all Americans.
Small cities?
Try NYC.
Here the NY Attorney chases regular folk who owe money to rich people and they are sent to jail.
The brokers that buy and sell your mortgage and retirement fund until it is worth nothing, no those guys are cool with the DA. The Enrons, the Teslas the myriad of frauds done, that’s ok. If caught you go to Club Fed for a vacation, then you can write a book about it.
But if someone rich says you owe them, to jail you go.
Right here in this city. It happens daily.
8
I guess there are debtors' prisons in the US.
5
How is this is different from Debtors Prison?
8
Who cares? The irony in all of this is that the impoverished deep South with fervent anti-government hostilities is the MOST DEPENDENT on government/federal welfare! That is the real reason they hate immigrants because they feel they come here to STEAL THEIR WELFARE! The truth of course is very different. Illegal immigrants don't even exist on paper so they cannot claim any federal assistance, and the legal immigrants are barred from receiving federal support of any kind. It is actually a part of the condition the federal government imposes on them to allow their entry. How about that huh? So in order to pay for the welfare the *legal* southerners consume Southern (aka poor) states are always looking for ways to fine their citizenry. I should know because my sister lived in rural Alabama for 8 years. Until she left that horrible place state troopers were constantly pulling her over and fining for her for anything imaginable. State sales and income taxes were through the roof with all of it going to support a group of people who would rather live and die in poverty for generations upon generations than get off their rears and find a job!
7
Congratulations! You've just demonstrated the very attitude that has driven a wedge between a lot of poor rural and small-town people and Progressive politics.
I believe we are missing facts here. I feel that Matthew Shaer is creating a false impression. Jamie Tillman was arrested for and sentenced for public intoxication. If you want us to believe anything else but that, then get off your butt and go find those facts. People dont call the police just for the heck of it. Until you interview someone who was actually there, I highly recommend you dont take a drunk drug addict's word for anything. Her life is a mess, that is why she wound up in jail, it is not the governments fault. She went to a public place a created trouble, why do we continue to try and blame other people for the mistakes of those that should be blamed.
8
My father, who was black, was born and spent a considerable portion of his childhood in Corinth. He told me of white people, just as poor as black people, that lived there. And he told me how, even with their status, those poor white people continued to vote for and support the same politicians, Democrats at that time (Republicans now), that kept them poor and uneducated.
It's long past time to explore how we help these people, both black and white--and of course now brown as well. How do we educate them about the world and put them into a position to steer their own destinies?
It is worth noting that Memphis, only about 100 miles from Corinth, is where Dr. King was assassinated while working to get his 'Poor Peoples' Campaign' off the ground. The vision of that campaign was to unite poor black and white people in their shared struggle for fair treatment.
That vision, of course, stands in direct opposition to the 'refined culture of the old south,' now a nationwide strategy, to divide and rule. (And people wonder why 'Gone With the Wind' gives me hives.)
9
I know a very well educated young [35yr old] woman with mental health issues who got 3 or 4 parking tickets - by the time her mother found out the fines had risen to several thousands. The parents were wealthy enough to pay off the amount. A 'normal' person would probably have his-her vehicle impounded, and even when the vehicle is sold off at auction I would think that she would still owe the fines, the towing change, as well as the storage! Shameful. A student at Stanford was CONVICTED of a rape on campus, and yet his conviction was overturned.
5
Debtor's prison?
I got a speeding ticket in Indio, Ca. The base bail was $120.00 but with added assessments from everyone, the fine ended up at $500.00. I could pay it but for most people down here it would destroy their budget or force them to pay an even higher amount on a payment plan. A purely regressive tax.
13
I seriously question the use of the phrase "make money" used in the article's title. A more apt term is likely "attempt to cover costs incurred." Regardless, it's not just that our justice system attempts to recover such a large portion of those costs from the folks that are at the receiving end of the judicial stick.
All that stated: if our nation wants to heal, and recover any notion of unity, we need to launch Another War on Poverty, and this time it needs to be a multi-pronged campaign, until we root it out. It must cover nutrition assistance, housing assistance, job-training, addiction and mental services, and reform of the criminal justice system.
2
All you have to do is to pay people a true living wage, enough for medical, dental, vision, good childcare, fresh food, etc. and let them take care of themselves with the dignity due all humans. Not everyone will make the choices you do, but that’s OK.
5
Unfortunately, Kim M., that's not "all" that needs to be done.
You can't pay a living wage to people whose parents never taught them the concept of responsibility, whose teachers couldn't train them, and whose previous (few) employers could never depend on them to show up.
You can't pay a living wage to schizophrenics who won't take their meds, or to men with chips on their shoulders, or to addicts in denial, whose needs trump their regard for others' limbs -- should they get in the way.
It is not as simple as you make it. Here in New York City, we have a population that should be housed in a secure facility and forced to take their meds.
Better to have freedom in your mind and be in a room than be free to roam the streets and trapped in a sick psyche. And possibly cause harm to others.
I used to handle cases in city and magistrate court. Cases were typically for shoplifting, simple drug possession, assault, trespass, driving revoked, lack of registration/insurance. I always worked every client file and got fair results. From what I observed, if people had counsel, their outcomes were fair. If people didn't have counsel (and in our state you don't get appointed counsel unless the charge carries potential jail time), they were apt to plead guilty. The magistrates and municipal judges I appeared before were usually fair. One part of this story that really rings true is the "court cost" rip off. Many times the official fine would be $50 but the added court costs would be a hundred dollars plus.
6
In many ways, Monterey County treats the working poor here as though they were the wrappings on a fast food meal. However, these workers bring in more revenue than the one percent who can afford to make the area their second or third home. Without these retail, hospitality, agriculture workers here the area's tax revenue would be miniscule, but the price of rentals is astronomical. They are expected to commute long distances, and, it goes without saying, leave their children unattended for substantial parts of the day.
The county and cities used to fine people huge amounts for not having the money to sleep inside, but now there are so many homeless, that doesn't seem to be happening.
There are no realistic plans to ease the financial struggles of 70% of the population.
3
My heart and soul hurt for my country. I cannot believe we do this to our own citizens and our poorest citizens to boot. Where is my country? This use to be the land of the free and home of the brave. It is now the land of the cruel and the home of the downtrodden. Where is the America that innovates? That use to be us. Heartbroken....
9
@EJW
"This use to be the land of the free and home of the brave."
It was never that for blacks, Natives, or the poor. We've just been brainwashed to think that. Typically whites refer to the halcyon, "good ol' days" when actually for us minorities, due process and civil rights aren't upheld.
50
@EJW: Do you think this is new? There have always been two forms of justice in the US; one solicitous and indulgent for the monied, the other cruel and rapacious for the poor.
You're looking back to a golden age that never existed outside of early '60s television.
1
"In Louisiana, pretrial diversion laws empower the police to offer traffic offenders a choice: Pay up quickly, and the ticket won’t go on your record; fight the ticket in court, and you’ll face additional fees."
This sounds like extortion??? How is this even legal?
11
we got pulled over for a "speeding ticket" in NW OH in 2000 and was told either pay the ticket immediately (the officer followed us to an ATM) or go to jail. luckily we could choose the first option.
2
@Mariann This sounds like 30 years ago when I travelled in Mexico. The police officer would say you could pay the traffic "fine" to him now or go to court - probably the next day which meant a night in jail - and the judge would assess the "fine" with "court costs". Everyone chose to pay the "fine" to the officer - cash, of course. America has become Mexico - too late to build "the Wall."
34
As a diesel mechanic once told me, "Chris, you have nothing to worry about, that problem will be there tomorrow, it's not going anywhere."
We live in a society where people are valued inasmuch as they are wealthy, and occasional stories such as this one pull on the heartstrings of the few who read it because it reminds us of just how wrong it is to value people based on their monetary worth. How many of us readers were thinking about this issue before we read this article?
We will forget the empathetic feelings we just had before we know it, we will not realize we have forgotten them just like we didn't realize we moved on from thoughts we had last night or the day before. Sure they'll come back to us, the inane, the pertinent, the illogical, the empathetic -- all manner of thoughts will fill our heads, appearing, reappearing and disappearing, and our days will count forth and we will think through them.
Nancy Isenberg's recent "White Trash, a 400-Year History of Class in America" is must reading for anyone who cared about what they read in this article. Nothing is constant as poverty except gravity, and yes, both will be here tomorrow.
12
While I appreciate the story and its message I have to tell you this has been happening in the black community for decades. Yes, people have complained but apparently the wrong people are complaining to the wrong people. Confining the poor to what amounts as debtors prison was one of the main causes behind civil unrest in American cities like Ferguson in Missouri. It is good that NYT finds this human tragedy worthy of a Magazine cover - but one has to ask, why now?
5
Brian Howell claims he didn't have the money to pay his $1250 in self incurred traffic tickets. But he had enough money to pay for the extensive tattoo needlework on his own body.
11
@Paul. Oh and the next thing you are going to say is take away their cell phone (heard that one before?).
3
Paul, did you consider the possibility that Mr Howell May have had the tattoos prior to all of his misfortune. But luckily for him, having only one leg, he will always be able to count on you to kick him when he's down.
7
@paul maybe he did his own.
1
Debtors' prisons return?
Hey, judges. Not honorable, since I see you failed the logic test of how anyone who is incarcerated can earn money to pay the fines imposed.
Yes, they offended and were found guilty. I'm not a judge, but smart enough to reason that without being able to work, one cannot pay the money needed to satisfy the fine.
Please explain how locking someone up fixes this.
3
I was a prosecutor for almost 10 years, in NYS. It was really gut twisting to see people sent to jail for fines and court fees. A common tactic to avoid being arrested for unpaid court fees was to ask that all unpaid fines and surcharges "be collected civilly", which meant the fees/surcharges were converted by the judge into a civil judgment, which is just like any money judgement. This tactic works if the judge agrees...it's a stopgap measure for now
2
They need to pay those fines. If we excuse their fines, then we should excuse everyone's or else the real fleecing will have begun.
5
@Jeff they don’t really owe them. Uh the article should say these people should not have been arrested.
The world statistics slowly showing that how America is sliding down and fall from the advance western nations league.
Today China's might is awe inspiring but their human happiness and rights records appalling, We are heading China's territory.
I really do not believe we are not belong to what it called advanced western nation league ( Scandinavia,Denmark Germany, France, Italy, Canada, Japan, UK, Ireland, Switzerland, Benelux, Austria, Spain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, Singapore )
More evidence that we live in a plutocracy not a democracy.
5
And to think how the US government bailed out the banks in 2008, how Trump has been bailed out through bankruptcy and outright theft from investors and neither the bankers or Trump have spent anytime in jail. The poor are always at the mercy of the rich. The rich have gamed the system and they want to keep the poor downtrodden for cheap labor. And we wonder why the poor use drugs to escape their destitution. Teen pregnancy promotes poverty, the welfare system promotes poverty, and the lack of quality jobs with living wages promotes the cycle of poverty. Poverty is a black hole for those trapped in it. It’s an indictment of our nation that the establishment supports the denigration of the poor. We did this to the native Americans and we have done this to blacks,whites and Brown people. The establishment exists to promote the top 5% of the population. What is our military accomplishing by destroying nations that pose no threat to the US. It is only US fear mongering that propagandizes these wars and the military industrial establishment that profits. Just imagine if all that money was spent improving the education and health of the most vulnerable. It’s insanity which by Definition is doing the same things over and over expecting a different result
8
How does someone create policy with the intention of making mental illness and poverty a crime then charging the mentally ill and the poor for being mentally ill and poor? Great journalism. Thank you.
6
Who knew?
See "An Economic Interpretation of the Constitution of the United States" Charles Beard; "Dog-Whistle Politics: How Coded Racial Appeals Reinvented Racism and Wrecked the Middle Class" Ian Haney Lopez; " The Half Has Never Been Told: Slavery and the Making of American Capitalism" Edward Baptist...
2
I am a resident of Corinth, Mississippi. I have never been in trouble or any run in with the police.... until one night I was driving home from getting groceries with my 3 year old son and got pulled over for going 5 miles over the speed limit. I had a warrant for failure to pay of a speeding ticket which I was unaware of so I was handcuffed surrounded by multiple policemen in front of my son and put in the back of a cop car to be taken to jail. I was booked and told if I couldn’t get someone to bring the money then I would be staying the night. Luckily my fiancé brought the money and I was released. But that arrest will always be on my record and my now 4 year old still remembers seeing his mom being arrested over a speeding ticket that I couldn’t pay.
18
Were you unaware of the speeding ticket (did you not sign the citation) or the warrant for not paying it? If you get a ticket and do nothing, you will have a warrant on you. If you get stopped again, expect to go to jail.
These stories are about people that repeatedly make bad decisions without a financial cushion. Yes, people with more money can often buy their way out of bad decisions. Without a cushion, it behooves you to make fewer bad decisions.
1
This why I laugh when our judges always tell us how great our criminal justice system is. The very first thing it does is to begin punishing you for being poor.
5
Back in the 90s when my sister moved to N.Orleans, she pointed out that the car inspection system was far more forgiving there than up north. She also told me that people seldom stop for redlights at intersections because "cops only stop black people for moving violations."
I guess when there are no black people around, they go after poor people. Surprising that none of the new political faces on the scene haven't made this into a talking point.
3
Simple solution for everyone from the very wealthy to the flat broke - follow the rules and don't break the law Sorry, but being poor is not a licence to do otherwise.
7
When is the judicial system going to start putting rich people in jail for cheating poor workers out of small amounts of overtime? According to something I read a few years back, a third of employers cheat their employees.
1
The wealthy are not required to follow the law. The wealthy are not even required to show a passport to travel abroad! The laws of Nations exist for people like you and me, not for people like the super rich. they float above the law and systematically work to destroy the parts of the law that protect you and I.
1
In my small Oklahoma town we have a big problem with meth and opioid addicts. This leads to a big problem with theft, burglary, fighting, domestic abuse etc. Law abiding citizens are demanding something be done. No, they rarely complete community service so that is not a good option. What do you suggest be done with these people?
6
What Corinth has is a caste system, with its own untouchables and brahmins together with what seems an Orwellian police force. I don;t see a way out until the "brahmins" and the state start treating the poor as actual human beings, as one of us.
2
Has a judge ever been jailed for breaking the law? What's wrong with community service?
If you're in jail because of failure to pay a fine and you have to miss even more work to do community service, that counts as a problem. it's so easy to tell on the New York Times which commenters have never ever felt the pinch of poverty.
Didn’t we outlaw debtor prisons? This is just another form of that.
2
I don't see anyone asking what we as a society gain by these activities by Law Enforcement and the courts.
Well?
Controlling the poor is always popular with the affluent classes, "can't have them cluttering up our neighborhoods you know."
(Irony Intended)
4
In a Southern State in the United States? Soooooooo surprising (sarcasm.) I don't even have to look beyond a headline like this to know it is from a Southern State--and you wonder why "elites" move out of these states (or run away) as soon as possible. Disgusting.
This sort of thing happens in all states. The US justice system is not designed fir justice for all. The poor are always the ones who suffer most under its inequities.
2
Bring back the Stocks and Pillory, the Whip, the Scold's Bridle, the Rack, The Screw's Fiddle.... Why pick on the weak and the downtrodden?
1
Brian Howell and Jessica Woods are the latest examples of life imitating art as it was the fictional Jay Bulworth who proclaimed inartfully, yet correctly that “white people have more in common with colored people than with rich people.”
1
It is ironic that in America a person(s) who gets millions addicted to opioids leading to hundreds of thousands of deaths get a Museum wings named after them while a person who falls asleep or passes out on a bench in that wing gets thrown in jail.
9
Could not read past first story of Jamie Tillman. As usual, the NYT, portrays a poor innocent person, who is wronged by the justice system. Baloney. That woman put alot of work to get into the situation she is in now. From multiple kids to drugs. Her latest issue is just another notch on her belt. Her story is told here but we all know it is far from over.
9
@Jacob Paniagua. So you are in favor of jailing all people who make bad life decisions? Read any Dickens lately?
@Jacob Paniagua
So is that how you were brought up to be so intolerant? Pan y agua?
1
So Mississippi. So red state where every bad quality of life stat from teen pregnancy, crime, low wages, poor education and just dumb ass loser rule supreme and every measure of a good community - high wages, academic prowess, skilled work force, lower crime rates, lower teen pregnancy, lower divorce and far higher intellect rule in blue states. No wonder the flight from the rural belt accelerates and red states need their guns to protect themselves from themselves: the walking dead.
6
"they are debilitated by drugs, mental health and ignorance" "the endless parade of misery and unfairness, but also the lying"
B Samuels- you were a prosecutor, who has a law degree. These people have nothing except their ability to make an excuse. You clearly admit that these people are not competent to stand trial, but you condemn them because the only tool they have is what you call a lie, and what they would call the hope that keeps them breathing.
You have watched them walk in their shoes, but you have never tried to walk in those shoes. The inhumanity of the human race is boundless.
5
America is a mess!
Does our Representatives and Senators in Congress know about this? What about our State Legislatures? Is there nothing they could do about this?
I agree with other people who have said this probably is simply another sign of the awful and increasing wealth difference between the few billionaires (like Trump and Co.) and the rest of us.
1
I grew up dirt poor. My mama told me to go to college and become a white-collar professional. She knew that poverty meant a lifetime of insecurity. She knew that being in a higher class conferred a lifetime of immunity.
Because I can be a dentist and receive kickbacks for prescribing opioids and I'll never go to jail for starting a national crisis.
Because I can be a banker and destroy the financial system. I can destabilize entire countries across the world. But I'll get a golden parachute and I'll never go to jail.
Because I can be a bigshot software engineer and sell everyone's private data. I can let foreign agents sway elections. But I'll be a millionaire when my company goes public. I'll never go to jail.
211
Dentists, bankers and software coders go to jail every day in the USA.
3
Thank you. Brilliantly stated.
5
@Michael Blazin For rape and murder not unpaid fines.
9
I'm not unsympathetic. I myself LITERALLY grew up in a trailer in a sun-baked, sinking Southern trailer with rusted cars in the yard. I got out, and went a lot further than Tupelo.
As a former prosecutor in the South, I have a lot of first-hand experience with this. Make no mistake: justice is not equal for rich and poor. It probably never will be. Properly funding both prosecutors and PDs would be a big help. The case loads are too high to give these cases the care they deserve.
I'd caution though, that a lot of these people are slippery. These journalists don't question their narratives. I know the type of many of the people featured in this article. I grew up among them. They are not "bad" people, but many are debilitated by drugs, mental health, and the ignorance associated with growing up in this environment. I got tired of prosecuting due to the endless parade of misery, the unfairness, but also the lying. These journalists don't understand that literally every person arrested was JUST about to start a new job, or JUST got clean, or has a newborn to take care of, or spins an amazing tale of persecution and mistaken identity. They continue to make poor choices.
More importantly, how do you enforce the law against these judgment-proof people? They will NEVER pay if they can help it. But they will never fix their licenses nor cease nuisance crimes - which ultimately harms society. We used to let them work off the fines with community service. How else do we enforce?
378
@B Samuels I, too, would like to hear from other readers their ideas on how enforcement -- other than threat of jail -- might work. Unless we are willing to invest in community service programs, which of course includes the administrative overhead (perhaps a significant cost, given the supervisory and assistance functions CS involves), I'm not sure what the answer might be. I break a law, I am fined, I don't pay it, I never pay it -- then what?
50
If we incarcerate a struggling person (struggles that take many forms over many circumstances and years) how, exactly, does that help?
Exactly how?
I think we can be more creative than that.
A society with morals and a soul could be more creative.
With far better results and less cost to taxpayers.
Caring about and for each other is good, sensible policy.
63
@bill Here we have a bus with people who clean up the roads, not a chain gang but for non-violent people it works. Putting them in jail if they have a job is totally idiotic, it costs to keep them in jail and their families go into the system.
76
Twenty or more years ago, PBS showed a documentary about the differences between Canadian and American self-identity.
The only thing I remember is how one American businessman simply could not imagine how Canadians could value quality of life over profit.
I’ve never thought he was representative of the entirety of Americans, but it was the first thing that come to mind when I read this piece!
5
Vultures feeding on the poor. Except those vultures are human beings. -
Is it possible to put together a type of transportation system - starting with a grant / eventually funded & run by a community - type service. Perhaps a program that gets college age volunteers to help run a program similar to peace corps or 'city year'.
2
I nominate this story for Pulitzer Prize.
30
Another related function for small towns to raise funds is the common use of speed traps. They set the speed limit signs in decreasing/increasing increments of 10 mph — and put them so close to one another as you head into or out of town that you can't help but "speed" unless you slam on the brakes or slow to a crawl. If you choose to fight an unjust ticket, the traffic court never rules in your favor because it is your word against the police officer and the judge is a local lawyer paid by the town for her "services."
11
This is so common in up state New York ; I did fight my speeding ticket and got the points reduced but not fully eliminated
It's galling that the NY Times went to the south for this story. While a problem, it's a much smaller ont relative to how big cities such as, dunno, New York City, punish the poor, it's a smaller problem. The Times could devote an separate paper to that topic just based on incidents within the NYC borders. Taking into account how this has systemically destroyed multiple generations, it could be a life's work for dozens of their eager young activist journalists.
The financial, legal, educational, and political systems work against the poor. Everyone knows that. Nowhere is that more manifest than in cities. I'd take my chances in a rural area any day.
11
Reading this from Europe, I'm not sure if I've just read some dystopian fiction or an actual NYT article.
26
No, unfortunately this is quite real and widespread in the USA.
This is neither a kind or just society, and there is only a sham attempt at creating the appearance of care for the less fortunate.
As someone said earlier in these comments, if you have wealth/means, you will receive a certain kind of ‘justice,’ like minimal sentencing for grave and egregiously harmful crimes—as long as your crimes only affect the masses severely.
Bernie Madoff conned and defrauded the wealthy—so he will be in prison for the rest of his life.
Whereas, the bankers who destroyed the world economy in 2007-2008 made millions and walked away without so much as a day in jail.
We here are living in a dystopia, most just have not yet realized how truly bad it is, or how much worse it will get if we don’t change our laws to remove money as ‘speech’ and corporations and lobbies from politics.
@Alex
It is a dystopian factual portrayal of the U.S.
What's just as frightening? The comments on here victim-blaming or expressing indifference. But hey, greatest country in the world, right?
Nope this is the real merika .
Thank you to the NYT for writing about this.
20
Somebody has to pay in suffrage and cost for the GOP religion of tax cuts. The famous late GOP political operative Lee Atwater saw the genius of tax cut ideology in its potential to inflict pain and hardship on poor African Americans more than whites. Many poor whites robotically vote for the GOP because this but poor is no respecter of skin color.
11
The United States of Extortion.
7
This is shameful.
American capitalism run amok to make a buck off the least fortunate people in this country, instead of helping them have better lives.
This makes me sad to be an American.
19
The practice of making economic slaves of the poor and vulnerable on the basis of minor infractions is as despicable as it is old. I do not suggest that everyone with a low income and a sob story be excused, but in areas where the pattern of incarceration and fines suggests this is a policy and a primary source of public revenue, it needs to end. The private industry is especially appalling -- it is a case study in conflict of interest, and in how to turn public cruelty and oppression into private profit.
19
no different then the nyc police busting nonwhite kids for pot or homeless people for unpaid drinking in public tickets to collect overtime pay
5
Another example of the Dictatorship of the Bourgeoisie.
6
I grew up in a 1 bedroom apartment with my 2 sisters and single mom, so I know what these people are going through. What is not being addressed here is that some of these people are doing nothing to help themselves. I saw that when I was growing up. We were never on welfare, my mother worked 6 days a week going 7 years without a vacation to get that extra week's pay.
There are many people on assistance that are there because of circumstances beyond their control. Others are there by choice because of their own behavior.
Every body today wants to blame someone else for their mistakes and problems, Nobody wants to say I got here because I made bad choices. I had children when I could not afford to have them, I will take only certain jobs even if they will allow me to get enough money to move onto a better job etc.
Look at the man in the picture. Were those tattoos free? No and the money spent on them was not out of necessities.
How many will not give up cigarettes even though they cost in excess of $7 a pack?
Before you jump to conclusions about me let me say this. I have voted Democratic my whole life. I think Trump is an egomaniacal idiot that is being enabled by gutless Republicans. The worst is Lindsey Graham. Day one he went to the White House and drank the Kool Aide.
I grew up in a household where it was taught Democrats are for the poor and Republicans are for the rich. I know now that is an over simplification, but not far from the truth.
25
I’m in Ohio . Worked at a Children’s Hospital here so I know what you’re saying .
I think too that some people feel hopeless and despairing and don’t have the inner strength of people like your mother .
Often they simply try to survive and feel better, likely chronically depressed , so turn to things that offer short term relief (cigarettes, junk food , tattoos..).
I’ve learned too that some people really really need a lot of guidance and support to make better choices -they lack confidence and are worn out .
No easy answers .
10
I would suggest that private corporations with private profits don't need taxpayer subsidies from the poor and middle class, either.
5
It’s a maddening cycle but the idea that the poor should not have tattoos or cigarettes or pets is a reaganesque reflex. I agree that there is the personal choice and personal responsibility piece- I think everyone does. I want to emphasize however that the lack of informed and quality medical support starting in middle schools about mental health and reproduction could have benefitted the young woman in the narrative.
She “suspects” bi-polar disorder, she is day drinking, and she already has 4 children. It’s a modern day tragedy that could have been stopped at an earlier point.
66
Yet Our glorious leader Trump thinks that American carnage committed by Immigrants.
If this is not an American carnage what it is...…..
Where are the Democrats, Republicans where.
Thank you NYT but please show this shame more frequently to our President and Congress.
This is moral abomination.
5
This is a horrendous problem, and I'm glad that the New York Times Magazine and Matthew Shaer have presented it to us. A new book by University of Irvine law professor Alexandra Natapoff, "Punishment Without Crime" (Basic Books, 2018), is a major examination of the rampant misdemeanor injustices in this country and the many ways in which the poor (particularly minorities) are punished for "crimes" like loitering, jaywalking, disturbing the peace, etc. Money is at the heart of the problem--especially, as Shaer points out, with respect to incarceration because of inability to pay a fine or a fee.
Natapoff's book is a must-read. Her detailed analysis of the degree to which arresting officers are often taking over the roles of prosecutors and judges is a nightmare revelation. Natapoff is also the author of the excellent book "Snitching"(New York University Press, 2009), to which "Punishment Without Crime" is a kind of sequel, seriously upsetting and further enlightening.
7
This is America, the land of the free and the brave. The land of free choice, the land of the American way of live.
Honestly, how can anybody believe this anylonger? It probably never existed, but for sure it doesn’t exist now.
Was it the mothers choice to stay poor, will it be the children’s choice to never attend an ivy league school?
However on both sides of the isle this is not questioned. People think if they do an annual charity donation then this would be super human. I may remind these people, that there are many other countries which donate a lot on top of a fully functional public social security system. And the latter is an important component to guarantee unbiased social justice for everybody.
The other important component is public infrastructure. Having travelled to many developing countries, I was shocked by seeing the infrastructure conditions in some areas. Yes, in a rich neighborhood it is decent, still inferior to any European country, but ok. However in poor neighborhoods, you feel like you are in India. No matter if it is schools, roads, health ...
And as long as you don’t understand that your profit driven way of life is not only inhuman and savagely, but also the source of all evil, nothing will change, and the country will move further down the drain. And maybe in a few years Mexico will be happy about the wall, as it protects them...
5
Or you could just try obeying the law, so that you don't incur any fines. I haven't had a traffic ticket in over 30 years, a pretty simple achievement that millions of people manage to attain.
9
@Registered Independent Good for you, your compassion is touching.
8
And you never drive "five over" knowing you are safe? You do know that older, less fashionable cars driven by people of color are pulled over disproportionally, don't you? The judge was required to make sure this woman had a public defender. What about his offense? Anatole France said it very well long ago: The law in all its majesty equally forbids the rich and the poor from sleeping beneath the bridges, begging and stealing bread? Which category do you fall under?
7
I know this is a cycle impossible to get out of, because I know people stuck in it. Drug addiction (bc your life is so depressing you need to escape somehow), unplanned children (bc people never told you the consequences of not using birth control), a lack of education (bc who cares if you can read or not, you’re going to end up a low-life anyways), and no income due to all of the above. THEN you add the unnecessary jail time. How are we supposed to expect anyone to overcome all of these obstacles? Especially people plagued with mental health or physical disabilities who can’t afford medication or drive a car because their license keeps getting revoked. Now imagine that everyone around you is also poor and can’t help you, or has helped you too many times already. It’ll be no surprise if their children end up in the exact same cycle once they become adults.
We need to talk with these people on an individual level and try to help them get out of these death spirals. We need to pay people more for the work they do so they can pay these small fines like “normal people.” Everyone gets speeding tickets or parking tickets every once in a while. They just don’t get humiliated in this way by getting put in jail, because they can afford the cost of their mistake and walk out of court like no big deal. This is clearly discrimination against the poor. The entire system needs to be more empathetic and it’s going to take a lot of work and a lot of money to get there.
7
I have never had a speeding ticket, not after 31 years behind the wheel. I must be some weirdo who obeys laws.
5
@Some Joe From Flyover Country, maybe if you weren't white you would have been pulled over for something silly like driving a couple of miles over the speed limit and you wouldn't have this to be self-satisfied about.
5
I can tell you that driving while poor, as in having a car that is clearly driven by someone of the lower economic classes, gets you pulled over in plenty of cities and suburbs, even in the North.
1
So we got a bunch of judges doing things which are unconstitutional. I bet if these judges could be taken to prison for doing that suddenly justice would be swift and fair.
Instead here we are arguing about whether to put up a wall or not.
5
This is a great story that points to an appalling problem -- however, there is a conundrum involved in this problem, that isn't solved when you make it easier for people to escape consequences for their behavior. Sometimes, as in my city in an extremely liberal part of the nation, the pendulum swings too far in the other direction and you end up with massive social nuisance and repeat crimes (sometimes of a serious nature) all because the government/courts are reluctant to punish anyone who's "poor."
For instance, the high level of serious crime among those who are homeless, is a significant problem in some cities in the San Francisco Bay Area. One such homeless individual with serious mental illness in Berkeley has committed multiple assaults, arson fires. Yet she remains at large because the DA is soft on her.
Many other homeless in Berkeley have violently assaulted others, started fires, committed robbery or burglary.
https://www.berkeleyside.com/2018/12/27/parolee-at-large-arrested-charged-after-3-armed-robberies-in-berkeley
In this appalling story, a woman who regularly donated food and blankets to a local homeless man, ended up raped by this man one day while going to his camp to give him food:
https://www.sfchronicle.com/crime/article/Santa-Clara-County-woman-raped-by-homeless-man-13507267.php
When DAs go easy on criminals because they are poor/homeless, this becomes a problem for the whole community.
9
So now the corporate mentality is so omnipresent in our country that we have gone back to Dickensian Debtor's Prisons?
8
We need a traffic app like Waze to warn travelers away from areas with predatory law enforcement. Retirees need to be warned, too. Some places have low housing costs but awful quality of life, which you should know before you move there.
1
The practice is deplorable and immoral, but the headline implies the cost of incarcerating someone is less than the fine, which I find hard to believe. Ethics aside, the practice is probably financially unsustainable.
5
People of means/wealth are making money on these practices or they would not be happening all over the country.
Or, I suppose one could view these practices as evidence of terror campaigns targeting the poor to maintain a disaffected and compliant population.
It’s hard for the downtrodden poor, homeless, frequently incarcerated to develop or maintain interest in society, government, law, or politics. How much of our populace doesn’t vote??
As is often the case, the people running the jail deserve to be in it, not the people they have jailed.
6
This, right here, is why Americans so loudly and regularly proclaim their love of "freedom." It helps paper over the fact that there is anything but, in this country.
2
Yep. To paraphrase an economist I heard once, "When we are talking about economic development, we don't mean 'give us more', but rather, 'take from us less.'" This sort of soak the downtrodden practice takes many forms. Thank you for highlighting one of the more obvious (and despicable) ones.
4
The U.S. practices a particularly insidious form of parasitic capitalism. Courts and law enforcement are modeled in the same mold, both seizing money and property from the most defenseless among us.
This article demonstrates a structure which sits right next to public policy allowing corporations to force arbitration on consumers (which is all we are to politicians) and strip us of due process.
In Ohio, we have recently institutionalized casinos in our state constitution, cementing huge profits for a select few while preying on the least educated and poorest of us.
Citizens are sources of pennies, and the economy requires us to spend and keep spending. Over the long run, we need to switch to an economy less parasitic and geared to saving because this course is not sustainable.
3
This article points out well the fact that the real thief of individual rights (hard-right nonsense to the contrary) is not the Federal government but rather state and local courts, where there is little to no accountability and where judges run little fiefdoms.
Locking up people with no actionable ability to pay court/city fines/costs should be illegal under the 4th Amendment. It amounts to a seizure.
The handcuffing of indigent people is really beyond the pale.
6
In the United States, being poor is a criminal offense. The entire infrastructure of this country is predicated on people having means- the means to own and maintain a vehicle, the means to keep up with wildly increasing costs of living, the means to pay for your own healthcare, the means to pay for your own education, etc. More and more, your life outcomes depend on things like what county you were born in, how wealthy your family is, and how able-bodied you are. This isn't the country i want to live in.
4
I am a criminal defense attorney and worked for the New Mexico Public Defender Department for 16 years. I'm well acquainted with the disparity of justice and how the courts are used to raise money for the state. If you are convicted of murder, your court costs consist of a $5 domestic violence fee and a $100 fee for a DNA sample. If you are convicted of having less than 1 ounce of marijuana, your court costs are $248.
I saw endless people jailed because they couldn't pay the fines and court costs. Instead of income, these poor people cost the counties money to house them. They lost their jobs. They lost their homes. They lost their children.
If you want to know just how broken the criminal justice system is, spend time in the courts that prosecute misdemeanors. Try not to cry.
173
@Deborah Thuman
Thank you for your service.
See "The Condemnation of Blackness: Race Crime and the Making of Modern Urban America" Khalil Gibran Muhammad
New Mexico has the highest Hispanic Latino majority population in America. Largely brown and mestizo. From Chaco Canyon to Pueblo culture to a wide variety of ancient native cultures Europe aka Spain and Mexico came and conquered followed by American cultural imperialism.
" The law is an ass" from "Oliver Twist" by Charles Dickens
4
@Deborah Thuman With all the private for profit prisons, could there be bribes to the politicians/police force to keep the jails full?
9
@Deborah Thuman: I was a Deputy Public Defender in California for 20 plus years. I saw again and again judges putting people who were too poor to pay a file into jail. The stupidity of this tactic is that the cost of jailing someone for non-payment of a fine is far higher than the fine. People do not want to go to jail and would gladly pay the fine if they had the money.
24
Family physician here, see more psych that I care to.
You don't need to see a psychiatrist for suspected bipolar or major depression or similar. There's a pretty good quick survey called the Mood Disorder Questionnaire that can be administered by a family doctor and is fairly accurate. If positive, the doctor can start medication and refer to a psychiatrist or suchlike. Initial medicine for bipolar II is lamotrigine, easily prescribed and managed by a medical doctor.
Around these parts (rural Washington state) it can take 3-6 months to see psychiatry--if they'll take your insurance at all. Believe me, most family docs would be delighted to offload these patients, but that is not going to happen.
Note that medication for bipolar is completely different from treatment for major depression.
I suspect psychiatrists are in fairly short supply around Corinth. Family docs might also be but Tillman is more likely to get into a family doc first.
5
But those questionnaires are are self-reporting. I get one every time I go to my PCP. I answer it the way that's good for me, since I can see through the subterfuge. OTOH several years ago I was diagnosed with prostate cancer in the spring, and lost my mother at the beginning of the summer. My PCP next visit asked if I was depressed, and before I could answer she was writing a prescription for Zoloft. That prescription went unfilled.
1
But, But....I understand the article. I understand that the US sometimes unfairly fines the vulnerable.
However, I don't typically get traffic tickets. I don't sleep in Libraries. I raised my kids. I act responsibly. And, I wouldn't plead guilty to something I'm not guilty of.
I believe everyone should have a defender and there should be some flexibility in the law. But, this is not a one way street.
Please show me victims of circumstance who aren't partially responsible for their lot.
8
@David You say you understand the article, but from your comment i can see that this is clearly not true. Many of these people have medical ailments that prevent them from working. Unlike in Switzerland, here in the US, many people can't afford health care. There is also little to no public transit, so you either take on the expense of a vehicle or you are indigent. And the police hand out tickets because they need the revenue- taxes are very low in these areas (often due to low local incomes), and as a result they have turned their police force into a de facto protection racket.
This is a system where low income people with limited access to education, job training, healthcare or affordable housing are deliberately being used to prop up municipal governments. This is a system where a minor infraction snowballs in a life-ruining series of events, and this is by design. If you genuinely think that someone's life should be destroyed because of a parking ticket, then I would suggest you re-examine your worldview.
13
@David
You can find grifters and cheats at any income level- look at Trump who cheated his own customers at a fake university and was fined 29 millions dollars and who regularly cheated his contractors.
The point is funding your police or judicial systems off the backs of the financially vulnerable leads to perpetuation of that system. A cooked-up fine can start a downward spiral that is caused by the need of a police dept to pay bills.
5
@David
These people are not criminals period.
4
The problems of joblessness are probably a lot bigger than what is shown in this article. Here in Minnesota we have a fantastically low unemployment rate, but at the same time a large and growing homeless population.
One way to reconcile these two opposing facts is by assuming a 'managed labor economy'. The State unemployment rate measures the number of people who are receiving State unemployment benefits. But if the people given jobs can be manipulated by the State, such as through State and Federal jobs programs (and other methods), then the State can adjust the unemployment statistic by forming a pool of approved job holders. Thus, only those on the approved job list have a chance to be employed. The rest of the people fall into a 'black hole economy' where they have no opportunity for a job.
This suggests that unemployment statistics have now become a politically motivated source of fake news.
2
Maybe I missed it but surely a few days in jail costs more than the delinquent fine. Might the state prefer to pay less by covering the fine? Then required classes or employment or a support group to move toward preventing further fines and incarcerations.
Don't forget high quality K-12 education so that people rarely get into these situations in the first place.
6
The counties get subsidized by the state for the cost of incarceration otherwise they probably would not be doing it.
4
No the counties and cities are not subsidized by the state. The cost of jailing someone is almost always more than the fine.
1
The current bail system is a huge injustice to citizens who are low income, left over from a time historically when people could pay their way out of jail. The fine/ticket system similarly punishes those who can't pay. $90 parking tickets in the City of Portland is a good example. The poor, who can't pay, incur then greater fines, wages docked and the results can be homelessness. Fining people who can't afford it just perpetuates crime. Taking an educational class or doing community service hours are a better alternative, and these consequences should be shared by all. Think about it, why should wealthy people get to pay and not complete community service or classes? The entire criminal justice system was born out of class inequity and needs to be redesigned.
14
This past November I was stopped in NYS on 84 going east for not changing lanes when approaching flashing police cars on the side of the road. I slowed down but didn't feel it was safe to change lanes. I was given a summons - and decided to plead not guilty which meant I had to show up at the Patterson NY courthouse. I go there and there were 50 people in front of me. Almost everyone plead down their qualification and fines - but what got me was the amount of money the court took in for Patterson - close to $10,000 for one several hour court session!
10
@Chris O'Neill Your story reminds me of an experience over 30 years ago when I traveled by car from (then) West-Germany to Berlin (West) through East-Germany. I was warned by several people to watch out for portable signs that suddenly reduced the speed limit, as those were universally used by East German police not for traffic safety, but to bring in hard currency in form of speeding fines. I was lucky and didn't get stopped, but saw at least three such speed traps (sign, then East German cop car behind a bush) over just 150 miles. I wonder if places like Patterson are inspired by that practice. In the Middle Age, people built castles along roadways to collect tolls (or just rob people). The more things change...
3
@Pete in Downtown Ha! Patterson only has about 12,000 inhabitants but my experience there was more like being on a factory assembly line then in a relatively small town court.
2
Most aspects of this story are absurd.
What exactly does the author, or other commenters, propose for the punishment for people who just don’t want to comply with laws and regulations?
A fine is commonly used because it’s not as harsh as prison, or the penalty of prison time isn’t justified by the relatively minor nature of the crime/violation.
But the people in the article are (1) repeat offenders, and (2) “judgement proof” in that they can’t, won’t and don’t pay the fines.
So what else would you propose?
The law is only as good as the will to enforce it - and there is no way to enforce it other than fines, jail or community service.
I’d strongly suggest community service - picking up highway garbage, maintaining parks, garbage, maybe icky sewer work. But the same people complaining about the fines and prison time would also oppose community service.
So what do you propose instead?
15
@Some Joe From Flyover Country Community service could work. Most of the people described here could have done some form of community service, which would have served as punishment, but avoided the costs of incarceration for them and, also, the taxpayers. Let's not forget that every day somebody spends in jail or prison actually costs us money. So, for smaller, non-violent offenses, if they can't or won't pay, community service first. If they refuse to do that, then jail or prison is still an option.
9
@Some Joe From Flyover Country
Indeed. They would probably complain that public service is slave labor. And though the words "public service" sound almost noble, in truth it's going to be picking up litter. And if blacks are disproportionately sentenced for these offenses, it's *really* going to look like slave labor.
The only practical alternative to incarceration for an inability (or unwillingness) to pay a fine for illegal behavior is incarceration. You could let the perpetrator walk off, scott free, or make them work at a public project to pay off the fine. Too bad the latter alternative seems to be out of reach of many municipalities.
So, you throw them in jail until they, or someone, comes up with the money. Hence, the rhyme, "don't do the crime if you can't do the time". Very simple. The fact is that many of these folks are simply outliers in our society. Aiding and abetting them will do none of the rest of us any good.
6
So, the wealthier you are, the fewer limitations on your criminal behavior? Well, that does appear to be the way it works.
Awful. NO shame?
2
It's sad to see that the authoritarian streak we're witnessing in this country is not just relegated to the federal government, but is really an endemic, infecting all levels of society. Our society is sick, and it's going to take not only new policies, but a profound shift in attitudes to create the truly just and fair nation we proclaim ourselves to be.
13
@Alex
I lived in the tri-State area, first in NYC working in one of the Towers, then in CT where I lived and worked for 22 yrs. What I saw in Westport, CT was an all white well off community. When the commute on 95 got too much, I found a nice apt. in Stamford through friends. CT was very segregated; the beaches required stickers paid each yr., given to residents only. Fees for non-residents were steep enough to keep out the unwanted from Norwalk et al. The library in Greenwich allowed Westport residents to use it; the library was as good as most libraries in NYC. As a Californian it was culture shock; our beaches were pretty open, except for enclaves in Malibu and Santa Monica where access could be difficult. I loved the old Federal homes and the history. Metro North was easy to use. I remember that New York referred to CT as that "cheeky little nutmeg State". I loved the Spring and Fall changes. And, I also learned about New Englanders; they took their time to know you. However, once you made a friend, they were loyal and very kind. As a native San Franciscan, I can tell you that we loved tourists, but we were not all that open. I understood New England. Now I live in a small town, Sebastopol; it reminds me of New England.
@Alex: Look no further for the warning signs of authoritarianism than the gear that law enforcement is adopting: Camouflage. Flak jackets. Armored vehicles. All when our society is safer than ever before.
1
Great story, please keep on this subject! Unfortunately, I am not surprised. It's the same with fines as it is for taxes: it's just so much easier to go after many poor people who can't or won't put up a fight but can hardly pay a fine than go after some big fish who are bigger lawbreakers, but can fight back, lawyer up and keep that going for years. And, if it's just a fine, they can pay it and drive off. Some of the horrendous results of not being able to pay are described here in the article.
One way of making the pain of the punishment more equal across different levels of wealth and privilege is to do something quite unpopular amongst many: make fines be means-tested. That would mean that, for example, a speeding ticket wouldn't be a "flat rate", but a multiple of the person's average daily gross income derived from their tax return. That avoids the injustice of flat fines: Wealthy lawbreakers barely feel the sting of the fine, whereas poorer people end up in debtor's prison for the same offense.
5
Thank you for highlighting this gross injustice. Can the NYT follow up with stories of communities who are implementing creative solutions such as Nashville Community Bail Fund? We are exciting about replicating this in Chattanooga and other communities might be encouraged to do the same! https://nashvillebailfund.org
7
You see? Walls do work after all, just not in the way they are intended. Perhaps Judge Ross could profit from a few weeks on the wrong side of one.
3
@Chuck Burton,
I agree - what a jerk this judge is. I think he is retiring, a perfect time to get in and fix the damage he has been causing, for years no doubt.
1
The government should be helping these people, not stealing from them in order to remain afloat. I think that underscores the broader issue that, if these towns had money, maybe they could do more to offer education, skillbuilding, or other programs to help these people, but instead, to varying degrees, bilking the poor is how these municipalities make their money.
In some cases it is clearly a racket; in others it is maybe more existential. In the latter, it seems that cutting off that stream of revenue (not that I'm suggesting these abuses be allowed to continue) may have unintended effects in potentially creating incentives for exploitation of other kinds in other areas of the system.
Some commenters, on the other hand, have suggested that the fees cannot possibly cover the cost associated with collecting them, and if indeed that is the case the whole thing ends up being a wash once you eliminate the abuses. I have a feeling that the pieces of the system are not so easily disentangled, and that cuts to one area may mean the discontinuation of services elsewhere (although it sounds like there is little else to cut in some of these municipalities). Do you cut police funding? Other programs?
The real question is IF these towns can find any means of attracting residents, growing their tax base, and developing economically. There are no long term solutions absent that. If these residents can't come up with $100 for a ticket, they certainly can't afford to move.
5
It seems stupid to jail people for an inability to pay a fine. So she basically owed local taxpayers $250 which she could not afford, so she was jailed for a couple days which probably cost state taxpayers $500. Given that local taxpayers are also state taxpayers, this isn't somehow "covered" by the someone else. This is truly a solution that defies any logic. Why not make her work for 10 days or something?
12
@MC You have to consider how much money they get out of the parents, uncles, aunts, brothers and sisters of others who pay the fines under threat of having a loved one in jail. Holding the few who really have no one to help them, is not much of an expense. They consider it an investment.
2
Bring back the chain gangs. Although I suspect they still exist in some states. (Shades of I Am A Fugitive, and Take the Money and Run, or Cool Hand Luke). Or let them emboss license plates in NYS; Prince Andrew could outsource this task to the communities most affected, and let the inmates no longer doing plates work on a replacement bridge somewhere in NYS to be named after (?) his mother maybe. Lincoln freed the slaves; the states have brought them back under a different name.
2
What a sad show. Shame on all (including judges who studied literature) who keep it going!
My sympathies lie with the relatives who get hit up to pony up $100/$200/$300 to get their loved one out of jail. They see their hard-earned money go down the drain, perhaps on behalf of a person whom they have rescued multiple times.
But what else to do? Leave it to others to whisper that Aunt X could have gotten Mommy out of jail, but was too selfish to share? What if Aunt x's understandable desire to keep the hard-earned money means that nieces and nephews will be in foster care?
How in heaven's name does this sort of thing reward responsible financial behavior?
1
@Anne
Fred Trump should have had the same attitude.
May you live in the world to which you would consign others.
2
Debtors' prison. Ha, ha, ha. King George III was telling me just the other day that America would have been better off if its Brexit had never happened.
2
This was a good read, and highlights why I support organizations like the SPLC. They do very good work.
9
Taking advantage of the weak is sad.
7
Stories like this make me feel ashamed to be an American.
24
30 days in jail for public intoxication?
8
you think is bad? get a drunk driving charge in the state of Michigan. Man you are taxed to the high heavens. We lost a manufacturing base in Michigan and voila!! drunk drivers can make up this shortfall and brother they have. You couple this economic windfall for the state by exhorbitant car insurance rates/fees in Motown and other locales where the poor use as havens. The poor may not vote but they sure in the dickens pay the unjustly price of being poor.
5
Maybe people could stop driving drunk? People are so poor but they can still afford alcohol, cars, and gasoline?
3
@M Davis
A close family member was killed by a drunk driver. Drunk driving can quickly become a violent crime. I don’t think it should be in the same category as unpaid parking tickets.
1
Sickening to read this about the 'greatest country on earth'. Why does it have to be a crime to be poor in this country? Most of us are poor. This article also adds to the stereotype that cops are mean bullies. That stereotype hurts all good people.
4
When you give massive tax breaks to the wealthy, who could easily afford to pay more to support the country, but who simply don't want to, municipalities don't stop functioning. Schools, police, fire services, courts, roads, bridges, etc. don't just vanish. They still exist and they still need to be funded. So states and towns either have to increase state and local taxes, or else they have to start squeezing residents for every penny they can get in fines. Sales taxes go up. Property taxes go up. States that don't have state income tax bases have to institute all kinds of hidden fees and taxes to cover their costs. And the burden falls disproprtionately on to the people who have the least ability to pay. This lousy, disorganized, and chaotic "system" of generating revenues is not sustainable in the long run.
25
This thorough article reveals uncomfortable truisms about the “system” as a function of sometimes unpleasant, but very human, proclivities - that people often dump on those in dire situations, the financial and political temptations between court and jail and back, and the consequences of sheer human boredom and poor choices. Im glad the SPLC has challenged these discouraging practices. Lawsuits filed by motivated, well funded plaintiffs can effect lasting relief from some of the worse abuse against the most vulnerable Americans.
3
What is is about the culture of the South that punishes & denigrates the vast majority of its own citizens? The relentless racism, xenophobia & persecution of the poor. The holier-than-thou hypocrisy of the holly roller evangelicals. The ironic thing is that compared to the rest of the country, the South is the poorest section of the USA! We of the Northeast, whose taxes subsidize the impoverished South, are getting tired of their way of life & culture. In 2020, some changes are gonna come!
8
You have never heard of Rikers Island?
2
This is the American way. The police and government make traffic tickets ridiculous amounts of money so they can fill their party accounts. It is on the backs of the poor. The politicians keep raising these outrageous fees to show how they care about safety.
It's the biggest scam that is somehow legal. The purpose of a fine is to dissuade violations not punish the poor.
6
"From Mississippi," is the comment I hear from the many fellow and former Mississippians I have met over the years, even decades of living out of the state.
The ignoble behavior of those who remain and hold power in the Magnolia state has been a status quo of the "ruling class," the state's white power elite, since before the Civil War.
Reversing the behavior of these people requires fair election laws, continued Federal intervention, and more and more publications pulling back the Magnolia curtain so the powers of equal justice for all can be put into effect.
When individuals cannot feel the pain of their fellow humans, will not learn so change can be effected, and attempt to disappear behind the barrier of prejudice I think of the continued crimes of my birth state of Mississippi
9
The US is a dying empire. This is what a dying empire looks like. More than 60 percent of the federal discretionary budget goes to the military and the CIA, we have endless wars and somewhere between 850 and 1000 military bases occupying most of the countries in the world. We have bioweapons labs in the US and throughout the world spreading horrible diseases. The military is also the biggest user of fossil fuels and contributes mightily to climate change. We also have the largest prison population in the world.
All foreign military bases need to be shut down, for starters, and the focus put on health care for all, free education for all, affordable housing and public transportation. That focus will itself create jobs.
This did not start with Trump. It’s far more systemic and has been around for a long, long time.
18
I seem to recall that one of the results for the overthrow of the ancient aristocracy systems was the revolt against "debtors prisons." Seems that there are debtors prisons in some parts of America.
7
It's amazing, how the United States likes to push around other countries for their "human rights violations." We actually believe we're a place of righteousness that the rest of the world should emulate.
Hah.
14
One of the many instances of American history where Supreme Court rulings in aid of social justice are openly ignored.
9
The elderly get targeted like that too in small towns in South Texas. I got a guy who owned a nursery to cut my mom's lawn and then found out the grass was knee high. I got a letter from the city's police dept saying that they were going to put a lien on my old mother's 90+ year old house for that- and I mean the first time it happened. My mother had lived in that house longer than those people had been alive.
Other bogus complaints about a tree limb blocking view to the street - from inside the yard!- and having to pay the city's guy of choice to cut the mystery limb- $100- made it clear that it was not about cleanliness, it was about obtaining property from people who cannot defend themselves. If you are vulnerable and without an advocate, the vultures are definitely circling. It is a shame.
29
@Kay Johnson Perhaps you could do a better job of hiring people (and checking to be sure they did what they were paid to do) for your 90+ yr old mother. I don't care how old she is, her grass cannot be allowed to be knee high. It takes a LONG time for that to happen.
No one is confiscating her property; the lien must be paid in order for someone to get a clear title when the house is sold someday.
If you cannot do this from a distance and your elderly mother cannot, perhaps it's time for your mother to move somewhere without yard maintenance.
I say this as an elderly woman myself. I am lucky that I can afford to hire a yard man once a week for 4 hours; if I could not, I'd move to an apartment, not just allow my property to deteriorate. I once had a neighbor who had some dementia and she "drank a bit". She had once been a very wealthy woman - her son and daughter both went to famous Swiss boarding schools. But they were a mess, too, and her house fell into serious disrepair. It was a true eyesore in a very expensive neighborhood. Finally, after multiple pleas (and later threats) from our small municipality, her son came and got her, but he did nothing to fix up the house and then tried to sell it for an exorbitant amount, considering its condition. When he was fined enough, he lowered the house and sold it and it was gutted and repaired.
1
@A Thinker, Not a Chanter writes "Well, only true if the revenue is greater than the overhead to collect it."
Good point, but you assume that the people in the decision-making position know about how to calculate true costs. Although trained as a chemist, I am good with numbers. Both within my company for 35 years, and serving on boards of my church and several non-profits, I was at first horrified by and over time came to expect that people have trouble seeing past today's out-of-pocket, and think of that as cost. Proper financial analysis is rarely done. For example, Cost of incarceration:
Daily out-of-pocket - $10 for food plus $10 for incidental expenses = about $7300/yr. - any fines revenue. _________________________________________
Actual cost: (Average prisoners per day)/(the portion of the city, state, or federal budget from each agency involved in any stage of the incarceration process.) For example, figure cost of jails + % of police time, cars, equipment + % of prosecutors & court time and buildings + prison or jail employees + 25% administrative overhead + parole & social workers follow-up, + lost prisoner income due to jailing, etc. (I expect I missed some some since this is not my area of expertise.) Your tax dollars at work.
The cost/day/prisoner will turn out to be enormous, which is why the prison industrial complex is so profitable. The financial and social damage to the families of those jailed is huge, but harder to calculate.
10
It would be interesting to see whether this "judge" would accept his own system in reverse. That is, could someone sentenced to 30 days in jail pay $750 instead and go home.
That would do nothing, of course, to prevent our legal and political systems' broad abuse of and indifference to the poor, a facet of our national life that seems as much a part of it as racism and every other kind of discrimination: sex, gender roles, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, and the list goes on and on.
Some years ago, Chief Justice Roberts observed in an opinion that discrimination is not the American way. I respectfully see it differently. We may not have invented it, but we certainly seem to be doing all we can to perfect it.
5
This type of overcharging of fines and lower income municipalities farming or mining the people they serve has been going on for decades. It used to be the small town setting up a speed trap on the edge of town and pinching out of town motorists. But, it has gotten much more aggressive. For example, I lived in St.Louis for parts of the 80's and 90's and am familiar with Ferguson and St. Ann (cited in this article), and those police departments were doing the same stuff to their own two residents then.
Following WWII, white flight set in and those communities got blacker and poorer, while their police and criminal justice systems remained disproportionally white and did not live in the communities they served. So, in order those police and criminal justice workers to keep their jobs, pay and benefits in the face of declining property tax base revenues, they turned toward all of the things mentioned in this article. They treated the population that they took an oath to serve and protect as sheep that had to be sheared in order to preserve their livelihoods.
I live in a wealthy community in Boston, where if a police officer stops me for say a tail or headlight the worst I will receive is a conditional ticket whereby I would be required within 30 days to have the light repaired and the ticket would be become moot. But, even that has never happened to me, as the few times I have been stopped for a tail or headlight the officer has just asked me to get in fixed.
9
I'm a librarian, and I just want to say that I would never call the police on a sleeping patron without attempting to wake or talk to them. In fact, I rarely call 911 unless there's an immediate threat or medical emergency. I have a lot of options for resolving the situation before the police enter into it.
I am so sad that the library played a role in Ms. Tillman's arrest. There are always a cynical, callous, burned-out few, but most librarians act with common sense and compassion.
27
@H. She pleaded guilty to intoxication and people said that she was acting bizarrely. And she already has charges for drug posession. Sorry, but I believe the cops and the witnesses.
5
@H Perhaps the Corinth Public Library is funded by fines imposed on poor people...
It's not just small towns. A trip to traffic court will inform as to how the criminal justice system exploits the poor and even the middle class. As for the police, they are little more than source of revenue for cities and counties.
3
It's an early version of Soylent Green. Absent the political will to seek justice and efficiency, declining small towns like Corinth simply begin eating their own.
The rational and just solution in areas with declining property tax and business revenues would be invest in better public services like education, healthcare, childcare and transportation (the kinds towns used to have) so more people can be working steadily and productive. Instead, the "ruling" citizens resort to jobs in prisons, the police, the courts, and municipal administration for those who can get them (usually through "connections"), supported by preying on the larger group of those at the bottom. The town ends up like Corinth, using the bulk of its own residents and passers-through to support the salaries of a few.
A microcosm of the United States as a whole, a land of piracy by the upper 10% on the lowest 50%, made possible by politicians financed by the rich 10%, and tacitly supported by the few remaining "middle class" ... who are betting they can someday join the rich in preying on the poor (practicing meanwhile by despising and demeaning them, as in so many comments here). In actuality that middle is steadily collapsing into the ranks of the poor themselves, and will do so until we get the corrupting money out of politics.
9
This is one very sick country. We need to document this scandalous misery and I am glad the New York Times does such a good job. Americans need to be completely aware of this unbearable social injustice.
224
@Bartleby33-Good point. There needs to be a fuller investigation that documents these practices by states and shames state local and Congressional leaders to move forward on civil right protections that do away with these practices. Ditto for bail operations that are also used shake down people for cash.
26
@Bartleby33
This is how things have always been done in the South, in order to disenfranchise and marginalize poor white and black people. The wealthy and powerful have always striven to keep the non-wealthy and powerless in abject poverty and hopeless misery. This article highlights only one way in which this continues as common practice.
9
Sad to hear a great great nation has succumbed to fleecing the poorest of the poor. Can't help feeling it's the beginning of the end of mighty America.
Glad l am not American.
175
@Peter Khan So you believe a few examples of this sort of thing actually represent our large and highly variable country. Now Australia is a very nice country, but most of it is not somewhere I would ever consider living. We have had speed traps for decades, this is probably nothing new, but surely needs to be addressed.
9
Thanks for your thoughts on Australia. From this: Routledge Handbook of Poverty in the United States, 100 million people are living near poverty. From everything that I’ve read, the way poverty is treated in America is ruthless and disgusting.
It’s not right to put people in jail for a few hundred dollars especially when this means they will lose their jobs, their cars, family will go hungry etc. I think this is representative of America, but please prove me wrong.
42
@vulcanalex...outside of coastal communities and major cities America resembles a 3rd world country. When you are content to see your fellow citizens live in abject poverty, to go homeless, to have no health care while you enjoy the fruits of prosperity you really don't have a "great country." So the answer is yes...you are judged by the whole picture...not just the positives.
32
Excellent article. It is unconscionable that people should be in jail for no reason other than the inability to pay fines. I though that incarcerating people because of indigence was unconstitutional. You cannot demand that people become responsible, contributing, financially independent citizens while at the same time removing every support and common sense assistance possible.
142
The wealthy basically face minor inconvenience as punishment for their crimes. The poor, debtors prison.
17
@mary therese lemanek, the return of the poor house as it was in Victorian England!!
5
@mary therese lemanek
re: "It is unconscionable that people should be in jail for no reason other than the inability to pay fines." Plus, from a fiscal perspective, isn't it illogical? How much do we [government] pay in incarceration costs for a week or a month, in pursuit of a $150 or whatever fine? It's financially stupid.
9
Nothing in this article should surprise anyone. Our "justice" system is and always has been pay-to-play. Those who can afford high-priced lawyers get acquittals or probation, those who are indigent get jail or prison. Combine that with the old Protestant ethic that blames the poor for their poverty, and you get a court that is designed to punish people simply for being poor. Smug superiority crowds out compassion. Too bad that those feeling so superior fail to see how easily they could end up on the other side of the coin should their own fortunes turn.
185
@Nikki
" Just us." from a Richard Pryor comedy routine about what he found when he visited a prison looking for justice.
4
its called the prosperity gospel..its your fault that you are poor..have mental health issues or under educated
3
The sickness exposed in this piece is soul shattering.
In the 1980's, under the Republican administration of President Reagan, a policy of taxation and spending systematically tilted the benefits of society to the wealthy, favoring them over average, working Americans.
We call it the advantage of the 1% these days and everybody knows about. We know the effects on two generations of working class Americans.
Cutting taxes at the top didn't cause a "trickle down" of wealth or benefits.
What trickled was low tax revenue to these municipalities and those who live in them.
Revenue that pays for the everyday needs of residents in towns across America. The glue of infrastructure and services and education that make a place livable.
Tax cutting mania - mostly benefiting the rich - starved these little towns which then turn to these slave policies to make up their shortfall.
The 40 year shift of wealth from middle America - the tens of millions of us - to the small numbers of wealthy at the top is the sickness.
It has led to a political system ruled by money which makes rules to keep that money in few hands. So it can be handed over. To maintain the system.
40 years of policy and politics that shoves the wealth of a nation upwards is enough.
Let's have policy pushing it back down to the millions, in places where people live and languish. With oversight, openness, with law and accountability.
This article shows the disease of greed and it's ultimate victims.
Us.
221
@Paul King I have no doubt this county overwhelmingly votes Republican and of course for Trump. So sad. So maddening.
25
You are spot on. Indeed money doesn’t trickle down, and many, many towns, cities and municipalities are hurting for funding to provide a decent level of services. In Maine, where I live, our previous governor, Paul LePage, consistently denied the express will of the voters to properly fund education. He gave tax breaks to the well-to-do and even refused to implement a referendum to tax them and send that money directly to education. As a result, cities and towns have been forced to continually raise the property taxes which fund our schools. This is a terrible financial burden which affects Mainers from all walks of life. We are all, in effect, underwriting tax breaks for our wealthier neighbors.
The only solution I can see is serious campaign reform. Until we really get the money out of politics, we are doomed to having the corporations and the oligarchs, like the Koch’s and the Mercer’s, calling the shots. Our social fabric is fraying in so many ways....but they apparently don’t care, and anyway, they’re safely behind their secure walls and fences!
60
@Paul King Your soul must be easily shattered, otherwise this stuff needs to be eliminated.
1
So despicable! The court fee is more than the actual fine! How does justice get away with this type of abuse?
The same story happens in Chicago with the red light cameras. Poor people lose their jobs because of unpaid traffic fines, fines which got their cars impounded, cars which then the city sells at auction. But the money from the auction does not go towards paying down the car owner's debt. The city keeps the money. Surprised?
Unbelievable how horrible the system is!
174
@D
If they can't afford traffic fines, they probably can't afford insurance, and so they shouldn't be driving in the first place. If red-light cameras are what it takes to get folks off the road who shouldn't be driving in the first place, then so be it. There's a better way--institute real-time databases so cops know instantly whether someone has insurance instead of relying on phoney-baloney cards that prove only that the person made a minimal down payment then got canceled--and confiscate vehicles of anyone caught driving without insurance. Why won't we do that? My guess is that poor folks and their defenders would howl about the inequity of not being able to drive because their cars got seized for not having insurance. Arghh.
7
@August West
So...are you willing to lock people up for not having health insurance and showing up for emergency care at a hospital?
Curious.
11
@August West
If we had robust and functional public transit, you might have a point. But in a nation where, outside of a few areas, it's a necessity to have a vehicle to get to work and be a functional member of society, it's different. Telling people 'oh, since you're poor and have the misfortune to live in a car-centric nation, you don't have the opportunity to even make money to eke out a meagre existence, never mind dig out of the hole the legal system has helped put you in' is the adult equivalent of the schoolyard bully grabbing your arms and yelling 'stop hitting yourself, why are you hitting yourself?'
18
The heart and soul of America is to ruthlessly extract value--from the environment to the people it calls citizens. Exploiting the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is one example. Piling on fines on top of fines when 40 percent of the population does not have the means to take care of a $400 emergency is another. It's all of a piece, and it's what conservatives cherish as "freedom." Thanks to their debauched worldview, environmental protections are being pulled back, and the war on poverty has become a war against the poor.
340
@PR Vanneman
Because, in true American Calvinist/Social Darwinist fashion, we do not want to suffer the poor to live, as they don't deserve to anyway . . .if they did, they wouldn't be poor, or so the circular reasoning goes.
55
@PR Vanneman
You lost me when you compared the Arctic National Refuge to freedom and fining folks. Maybe it's just me.
3
@PR Vanneman
And this debauched worldview fails to consider how, with surprisingly little misfortune, almost any of us could be like these people.
26
No easy fix. How about working off the fine some public works project at minimum wage paying 50 percent of salary towards fine and remainder given upon release so they have something for rent and maybe a job. Thought debtors prisons were long gone
3
@AVIEL I agree! I think that most of these people just need to get a grip on their life and start looking for some sort of income. They think they are just being picked on when in reality they are not even trying to help themselves.
2
@Db: I had the unfortunate experience of going through this situation. I've never taken drugs, married for over 20 years. I was laid off after working 10 years for a company and looking for work when I got a traffic ticket. I couldn't afford the ticket and spent a couple of days behind bars because of it. Not everyone who gets in this situation is a bum.
3
@AVIEL
If Trump were open to reading a book, he might start with Dickens who was familiar with debtors prisons.
Sadly, America is the largest prison state in the world, with a significant disproportionate impact on minorities and the poor. I have seen people go to jail for failing to pay a traffic ticket. This is ridiculous. Jail and prison should ONLY be reserved for violent crimes in my view. Non violent crimes should look to punishment by civil means first, and then to jail/prison for the most egregious non violent offenders. Someone sentenced to jail for a minor to mid level non violent felony could easily be sentenced to community service, house arrest, or probation with certain requirements. Additionally, reform of our criminal codes is badly needed so that incarceration is just one of many options available to sentencing judges for non violent crimes.
5
@Gary Gray Yes, I agree that prison/jail is not the only option for punishment when someone cannot pay off a fine. I think that we should try to think of other ways people can pay off their debt that wont involve throwing them in a cage. They should either be required long term community service, or there should be someone to help them find a job so they dont end up in this kind of situation again.
3
Reading about these folks I think about the amount of hatred spewed by NYT Commenters against poor white people in the South who they imagined voted for Trump. Or the focus on the idea that votes are being actively suppressed by election laws.
People who spend all their time worrying about paying back fines to the government do not vote. And even if they wanted to, why would they vote for either party when their view of government is shaped by their interaction with an unfair legal system.
6
@Paul Spot on.
While I understand how the poor are in trouble in courts, read through the lines. This young woman is messed up and there is very little chance that she will ever change things. I understand that people will blast me for saying this but there are just some people that will continue to cycle in and out that are like this. All we can do is maintain them. I know this from reading cases, and from person experience.
2
@Helen I completely agree with you, the first woman the author speaks did have mental issues and seemed like she was going through/had been through a lot of rough patches in her life.One should know better than to just fall asleep in a public library, especially being aware that the cops in your town do not treat poor people equally.
1
@Db
"One should know better than to just fall asleep in a public library."
So maybe she didn't know better. Maybe she's mentally unstable, or just makes bad decisions. So we should ruin her life? The punishment should fit the crime. What would Jesus do?
1
I recently read a book on England during the period 1100 - 1300 and the practices the monarchy used to collect money sound amazingly similar to what is being done as described in this article.
4
I recently got flashed at one of those camera intersections for misjudging the yellow light timing. On the way home I passed by the new Architectural Police Station complete with Corporate style landscaping. I later went back on a Sunday morning to check the yellow light timing which was set to the absolute minimum recommended by ODOT. While I was there at least half a dozen drivers were flashed for speeding or other infractions. I am now very cautious going through this intersection so I guess I learned my lesson but something about this kind of policing has a bad smell.
10
The poor in this country are not only victimized by the thugs in their communities, but are also victims of shake downs by law enforcement via civil forfeiture and now by the Courts for being too poor to pay fines or post bail. imagine a person of means charged with a serious crime versus the often quality of life violator. The person of means usually gets to go home, while the poor person is pretty much penalized for not having the wherewithal to secure their release. The courts that treat the less fortunate in this manner are no better than mobsters putting the strong arm on someone who owes a gambling debt. When law enforcement invokes civil forfeiture with no real criminal charges or conviction, they are no better than the thug that mugs you.
6
Everybody screams for equal protection.
Sounds to me like everyone is treated equally.
Do not do the crime in the first place.
Blaming poverty for drugs and other crimes is an affront to the 99% of poorer people who are upstanding citizens.
5
@Ny
seems to me equal treatment would be a fine based on ability to pay. So, if a person making minimum wage receives a fine equal to a month's income, then a millionaire should receive a fine equal to a month's income. It's done that way in Scandinavia.
8
@Brad As discussed in the article, the person could be assigned community service if unable to pay the fine. This is all so unnecessary.
3
@Ny Crime?
I have read about this horrible problem in the past, and I've seen it featured on PBS channels. It has existed for years. My question is, WHY? Why is this horrible situation allowed to continue?
5
@Larry Imboden
The churches in towns like this used to focus on issues of justice and fairness more than telling poor people to do without family planning or haranguing about gay people. The loss in civility and just practical help is noticeable.
When the city finances were looked at in Ferguson Missouri, it came out that the city was basically just fining poor people to fund the town so the incentive to prey on people was huge. Losing your job while sitting in jail for some missing tail light was A-OK with them- with tragic results for people.
5
These policies aren't just unconstitutional, they don't make any economic sense. It costs money to keep someone in jail, money that would be better spent helping these folks get back on their feet, rather than punishing them simply for being poor.
3
Every county courthouse and jail is controlled by the people that elect the sheriff, the prosecutor, and in Illinois, the circuit judges. We also elect the legislature who can repeal laws like public drunkenness. I believe the incarceration for this and other offenses are wrong on humanitarian and discriminatory grounds, but it's also fiscally ridiculous. The community pays about $100 for each person each day who is incarcerated in jail, while our teachers buy their own school supplies and people go hungry. We need to grass roots organize and elect officials who do not support mass incarceration and laws and policies that sweep people into the criminal justice system for no good reason. The state legislature needs to be lobbied to repeal criminal laws that criminalize homelessness, substance abuse, mental illness, and other behavior that is not a danger to the community. In the interim, the prosecutors need to stop charging people for these non-crimes, the sheriff and police need to stop arresting people, and judges-- who can dismiss charges if prosecutors won't, need to stop feeding the prison industrial complex with the money from poor people. There's nothing cheaper than keeping citizens out of jail, and there is no greater cost to individuals than having a criminal "record." The absurdity and senselessness of the stories revealed in this article-- thank you so very much for revealing them-- happen all over the country, every day.
4
When republicans cut taxes on businesses and the wealthy, they have to find ways to pay for local government and schools and the rich don’t care if you treat the poor badly and the poor don’t vote or they vote their fears/racism
We all get the government we deserve
A strong and fair middle-class begins with respect for paying taxes.
4
@Deirdre
A strong middle class depends on good jobs paying decent wages and providing affordable benefits. The middle class was built during WWII, and it built strong communities. Outsourcing of manufacturing to cheap labor countries began the downward spiral. Tax breaks for the rich reduced the revenue needed to maintain a decently managed government. Reagan destroyed Community Health Centers in CA; he carried this forward into his Presidency. He was an amiable grade B actor who went on to to do sales work for Borax, the perfect tool for plutocrats who did not want to pay taxes. Fast forward to Bush/Cheney; Bush referred to the rich as his "base". We have been on the path to our current lying tax cheat in the WH for decades. Plutocracies will eat their own; they never end well.
“But they have one thing in common: They use the justice system to wring revenue out of the poorest Americans — the people who can afford it the least.” Aside from taxes, she says, “criminal-justice debt is now a de facto way of funding a lot of American cities.”
Well, only true if the revenue is greater than the overhead to collect it. Show us the cost of the judicial system to collect these small debts. I suspect we will see this business model runs at a loss.
12
@A Thinker, Not a Chanter.
But it does transfer money from the very poor to the less poor public employees who work in the court system. Also makes the court personnel feel superior to “them”.
2
@A Thinker, Not a Chanter. Regardless the business model, the way this "business" is run is dehumanizing and anathema to what we should seek to achieve in America. We want to end the cycle of poverty and dependedness, not subject people to an endless downward spiral.
2
This is a bad situation all around and will get worse when the new law goes into effect and the driver, without registration, inspection and license manages to have an accident or kill someone.
5
Incarceration for fines makes sense if one thinks of being poor as a crime. After all, from Ayn Rand to Paul Ryan we see folks who believe the poor should not be helped or, God Forbid, get health care. It kinda makes sense, 'cuz in jail they get food and shelter and medical care for free, and instead of working to pay their fines and child support, they cost taxpayers a mere $2,000 to $3500 per month. Brilliant!
9
Legal and philosophical aphorisms aside, this is what humanity has done since the beginning of time -- cull off the bottom. Today rationales of eugenics have been replaced by municipal finance. Have the county or state charge incarceration-time back to the municipalities that incur it. After all it's somebody's tax money that's carrying this freight.
7
Ultimately laws have to be backed by guns and chains. If we let poor people free without paying fines then that means that some of us can break laws without consequences. I think the bigger issue that is being missed here is the harm caused by unnecessary laws against crimes where there is no victim to begin with. Like laws against 'public drunkenness', marijuana possession, magazine capacity restrictions etc. Also the degree of governmental control over motor vehicle operation has to be loosened. From registration to insurance to suspension of license due to unrelated causes (such as missing court date), it's easy to see that any poor person driving is cash to a cop
9
Why not be able to pay fines with say, “public service” assignments?
1
@R that's a great idea. The substance of my comment however was that we should be careful about what we criminalize
2
Most of Scandinavia determines fines based on income. Such a system would provide more reasonable fines for the low income citizens and more meaningful punishment for high income citizens. I am not sure if it is true everywhere, but it seems like those in the most expensive cars are the worst offenders around my city. When your income is $200k, a thousand dollar fine is not that bad. When your income is $20k, that same fine can mean being unable to afford to eat for a month.
29
Is my math wrong? Do municipalities really make money with someone in jail? It seems that $5 or $25 would not cover the jail cost. There is great work in documenting the tough straights and burdens of the poor and disabled. It just needs a more accurate title.
5
If the cost of housing the inmates is subsidized by the state, it sounds like they would be making a profit by simply having another billable inmate.
2
@Barky
They don't make money having them in jail, they make it wringing it out of them to avoid going to jail.
2
Small town fines are a tiny poignant part of the story of the American legal system's historical war on the poor. Mass incarceration, prisoners for hire, debtor detention, racial targeting, and the privatizing of prisons and jails have long been part of the machinery of economic control and exploitation in the US. (Read Shane Bauer's recent book "American Prisons.") As a democratic nation when will we evolve beyond the barbaric practice of caging the poor?
20
Beingn poor is not a crime. But that is what these people are being jailed for. The efforts to stop this abuse and discrimination are minimal. I wonder if the women have access to birth control or health care. that would prevent unplanned pregnancies. And what of health care for the poor? Nobody should have to drive around looking for treatment for treatable cancer. So there is this need for legal protection, and for basic care and health care. Where are all the advocacy groups? The ACLU? The outrage? It is all focused on helping illegal immigrants at the border.
5
@gmt
Do you really know that "all" advocacy is at the border?
Planned Parenthood is made to help folks and the GOP in Florida and Texas and elsewhere cut funding in their purity quest. The result? Maternal death rates soared to third world levels, and contraception, cancer screenings, and family planning was not available. Ted Cruz even shut down the government in his quest to defund PP. Easy targets.
3
It's called policing for profit. The processes at work are detailed in the DOJ report on the City of Ferguson Missouri, and a driver of district and resentment of local police and government nationwide. Asset seizures for petty crime is also part of this scheme.
11
In my city the chronic harassment of the poor is outrageous, although it seems the rest of us got accustomed to this practice. Why the fight against the less advantage? Why the fight to keep the poor getting more into misery? Our society and system appears to be designed to keep the poor at the bottom of the barrel.
13
I was ensnared in one of the traffic fines which Long Beach Ca used to raise revenue. I stopped at a stop sign but not exactly at the line. A hundred dollar fine. I went to court and the policeman testified that I was gunning my car anxious to take off. The administrative law judge declared him very honest where I obviously lied. So he let the young policeman know it was fine to lie in court. I thought then what happens when someone’s freedom is at stake. I have never been back to Long Beach wouldn’t spend a dollar for a cup of coffee there. I hope the citizens cleaned up their corrupt police department.
13
I remember Secaucus, New Jersey being referred to as "flyover" country with its wetlands oozing poisons from the oil refineries and the acidic smells in the air. It looks good compared to Mississippi.
4
Seacaucus is nice these days. A lot of new shops and apartment buildings. I cannot comment on their police department but I can confirm that all the small municipalities and towns in Hudson county still practice policing for profit. $2000 fine and potential for jail for an open container in Hoboken.
3
St. Ann, Ferguson and other burbs surrounding St. Louis are disgusting, but the author fails to mention that it was once much worse, before the Missouri legislature capped the amount of fines municipalities can collect to make ends meet.
And so, frankly, the story is thin advocacy journalism. More time to pay? OK, but what happens when time passes and no payment is forthcoming? To suggest that local governments are making money by jailing folks at the rate of $5/day to satisfy fines is ludicrous, as is the suggestion that there is a parallel with debtors prisons, which involved no criminal offenses.
Finally, does the gentleman highlighted who's in trouble for not registering his car have auto insurance? If not, he shouldn't be driving. I've twice been hit by uninsured motorists who drove away with $120 fines while I got stuck with $500 deductibles and other expenses, not to mention I'm lucky to be alive. They could afford down payments for insurance premiums so they could get cards and escape no-insurance tickets, then never made the payments.
I know it's tough to be poor. But dag nab it, consequences are important.
8
@August West
...and if those "consequences" keep someone in poverty, preventing them from becoming a productive member of society? How does that benefit anyone?
4
@August West No way, did you say “consequences”? (sarcasm intended). I thought in modern America there was no longer such a thing. Everybody is just a victim of society, I’ve heard. Whether you are rich or poor, you can afford to obey the law.
1
Our fully computerized society never forgets and never forgives. An unpaid court judgement renders most of these people permanently unemployable, unable to obtain credit and often indigent. Youthful mistakes used to be written off to life experience. Now they often amount to life sentences.
21
You don't have to earn fair treatment under the law. You don't need to be hardworking or responsible or thrifty or brave, honest and true. Justice is meaningless unless it is for everyone. A remarkable number of commenters seem to think that fining and jailing people for being poor would perhaps be unacceptable if these people were tatoo-free teetotalers who had never touched so much as a cigarette and spent their free time reading improving literature. However, since they "make poor personal choices," it's perfectly fine to squeeze money out of them.
It would be unpleasant if we had to confront an unjust legal system, but we're relieved of that responsibility, since it conveniently punishes people who need punishing (the ones whose illnesses aren't a tragedy just a burden on the productive, the ones whose children are not the future of our world, but merely its surplus population).
19
@Prairie Otter,
Thank you for your comments oh wise Otter of the deep top soil and tall grass prairie.
I have always been struck by how quickly the children of privilege dole out discipline and punishment for others while greedily claiming for themselves exemptions and forgiveness for their own poor choices. I attended school on the prairie not far from you and the behavior on my campus had it occurred across the railroad tracks would have been grounds for severe punishment and intervention by law enforcement. But alas my friends and I were the children of privilege and for those like us forgiveness and not punishment is the observed standard.
3
Well, it is unfortunate. However, if you electing the same people who occupy these same positions of power for years on end then what changes? So unless the people of that town and in the state of Mississippi are tired of the status quo then whats the point of us feeling anything about this situation? My family decided to leave Mississippi 50 years ago and have thrived. Perhaps if change can't be achieved practically and politically, then like many people in the past from the Great Migrations from the South and the migrations of the Dust Bowl, leave. Why continue pay tax revenues to a place that values a fine/prision industrial complex than eliminating poverty? It appears some places thrive and take advantage of the cycle of poverty.
11
A common practice in the town of Hempstead, L.I. NY mimics another 'system' of raising monies in violation of due process.
A Town inspector would scout neighborhoods, find code violation - true or false, great or small, then issue a Court Appearance tickets.
Before facing the judge, the 'defendants' would pass through a pre-trial 'plea process', offering them to pay a fine in exchange for dropping charges.
However, defendants have no idea that due process requires the Town to give defendants a notice of the violation and grant a period for remediation, and this must be done prior to any court appearance.
28
I like some of your points and your apparent credibility coming from life experience. It's true many of these people make poor, irresponsible choices given the reasons you stated and they learn to be slippery, but I've been in court enough to see that those who can afford to have an attorney at their side can be very slippery indeed and they often avoid paying for things they did wrong whether by mistake or intention.
Since the system of escalating fees and fines helps most people stay on the straight and narrow, and maintain order in our society, and since the majority who are fined figure out how to pay, we can dismiss those people at the bottom, whether they be the slippery ones or they be low wage working mothers or fathers paying for their children's shoes instead of that parking ticket they thought was unfair but didn't have time contest and couldn't pay.
When honest, low income people are ground through the gears of parking enforcement, for example, and they are conveniently lumped together with those who are addicted, addled or of impoverished minds, those of us who have it relatively easy can pretend that the current way of enforcing rules is really a measure of morality instead what it is, which is the means for balancing budgets in places where those who have don't want to pay taxes.
So, I wish I had the answer to your question on how to have fair rules fairly enforced, but I have a feeling that would require a degree of honesty our society can't muster.
13
NY will sometimes turn the fine into "civil judgment', which means basically never paid, but we don't lock up folks for unpaid fines. Where you can be locked up is by getting traffic tickets, ignoring them, and then getting misdemeanor unlicensed tickets...although other than arrest and processing, you don't usually go to jail. I have had many assigned clients, though, that can never fix their licenses because they will never have the mostly STATE fees...insurance fines of $1000, Driver Responsibility Assessments that start at $300 and go up quickly. The Legislature sees traffic tickets as free money and "fees" go up every year, usually buried in the back of a bill somewhere. There is no "civil judgement" option for traffic fines.....nor is there any mercy in NYC Traffic Violations Bureau, a lower level miscarriage of Justice that the article, but damaging nonetheless.
14
Thank you for the article - it was very revealing and sad. Many of these people don't belong in jail -they have mental health issues and need treatment. As always, my heart goes out to the children, the innocent bystanders, who are most affected.
19
After considering the nature of evil for many years I finally came to
understand it is simply this: to inflict unnecessary suffering.
The judges in these cases certainly fit quite cleanly into that description, don't they?
28
@Z
You have just described Trump with his insults, lies, meanness and lack of empathy. Does he care about Federal employees who will not be paid for their work? No. Does he expect TSA employees to work without pay? Yes. Park Rangers and janitorial staff in the WH? Yes. He is not bright; he squandered a fortune and stiffed contractors. Lawyers have managed to keep him out of jail for unpaid debts, and rape charges. It will get worse if he suffers from Early Onset Dementia; Mitch is not stupid, and he knows something is wrong with Trump. There is no national emergency; there is no public support for martial law; there is no support for a 72 yr. old adolescent who wants to use a standing military on our Southern border. Texas landowners/ranchers do not support a specious eminent domain claim on their land for a Wall. Trump is in a corner now; he will become more erratic. He will bring down the GOP, and Mitch knows that.
1
This is a real and very damaging issue, they have it in Memphis which is much larger. A real solution is pretty easy, but not profitable. This is real discrimination based on economics, which in some areas impacts one race more than others.
27
@vulcanalex
I frequently see your comments and can't recall ever agreeing with you before. I don't intend that as a jab; my point is that when people from such different parts of the political spectrum agree on an injustice, our political system fails spectacularly if we can't do something about it.
(I'm wary of why you bring up race; economic discrimination shouldn't happen regardless of any racial element that may exacerbate or complicate the problem.)
14
The article specifically states that in the case of Ferguson, this system of economic injustice disproportionately impacted African Americans
3
It would have been useful to provide data on how many people Judge Ross sent to jail for non payment of fines in 2017. The article notes 600k in revenue for the county, yet the costs to house, feed the prisoners, pay the judges salary , administration, police, etc would have to be deducted to arrive at a net figure. The article implies that the fines are a tax on the poor, which is surely true , but our county’s self feeding prison industrial complex also plays a part in this cruel practice.
17
The real question is whether many of these incidents are criminal, such that the people belong in jail. I am familiar with these small towns from going to court for clients, the docket is full of petty incidents, where our judicial system is used to incarcerate people. Every time she is in the “system” for public intoxicating, she is less closer to getting a job, based on our screening of prospective hires. We really need a more concerted effort to help people instead of the patch work of not for profits. We really need to manage our addiction problem better than incarcerating people.
11
@Mr. B The article noted that the costs of incarcerating people are picked up by the state, which makes it even worse because the costs are invisible and irrelevant to the actual jurisdictions doing this stuff.
11
@Al
Typically, counties pay for their own jails, although they may be subsidized by state and federal funding. The costs are not exactly invisible and many are paid directly by county taxes. To start, they will need an extra cop to round up the non payers, plus another police car, add extra capacity in the jail, hire more guards, judges, clerks, admins etc etc. This is what I meant by the prison industrial complex, a system designed to put people in jail, and to keep the jails full. We spend around a 100 billion a year on incarceration alone. Sadly, it's become a big business with a lot of special interests whose lively hoods depend on the machinery of justice to keep it humming.
2
I found a ray of hope in the “modest progress” made in Mississippi after lobbying by SPLC and ACLU. If you’re wondering how you can help, consider donating to these organizations. They are on the ground making a difference.
71
In addition to hobbling their own poor residents, many smaller towns and rural counties set up speed traps and ensnare travelers who don’t know the local game. Since the traveler is just passing through, he/she cannot possibly show up in court to contest specious traffic violations. Despite the availability of video services that allow accused persons to communicate with judges hundreds and thousands of miles away, these courts refuse that technology fix. Pay large fines and fees without the ability to state one’s case, or find one’s driver’s license problematic to renew, because those same localities are more than happy to use technology to link their local records of traffic violations to those of other states. I found this to be the case in Iron County, Utah. I imagine it must be 100x worse for local, poor residents. A disgrace.
56
@voltairesmistress
Easy solution: Don't speed through small towns. Every experienced traveler knows this.
2
@August West
I lived in a tiny town on the way to a national park that made a lot of its money off such a speed trap. Didn't know that at a certain point the speed limit dropped to 30? (THERE WAS NO SIGN). You got ticketed.
What if you took the precaution you glibly recommend, and slowed way down? THERE WAS ANOTHER ticket available -- for going too far below the posted speed. Plus the bonus of having to be tested for sobriety.
Now that is a speed trap. No warning - no reason - no reasonableness - just a stop made of any car with out-of-county plates (bonus for out-of-state) that the cop happened to feel like making their daily quota off of.
7
@August West
Better solution: Stay on the inter-State system if you have no reason to off ramp to a small town. The CHP are very professional. I can't speak to other States; however, the further up the food chain, the better trained, more professional law enforcement. If you can afford to pull into a Marriott for the night, do it.
1
Ironic that Jeff Beauregard Sessions was the architect. Then he gets canned for not protecting trump.
34
@Howard Clark
It's called poetic justice.
Sessions is a monster.
He and Trump occupy the same Hell.
They deserve each other.
3
This sort of story angers me more than just about any other. The manner in which we treat impoverished people in this country, with either scorn or with an eye toward exploitation, is simply disgraceful.
How often do we hear about the "heartland," about the God-fearing decent citizens who supposedly represent the best of America? In truth, I don't see those people or their corn-fed experiences as representative of our country in 2019. I see what these poor people have gone through, all over literally a few dollars, as a far more telling example of what it means to live in modern America.
61
A despicable practice.
"All animals are created equal, but some animals are more equal than others."- Orwell.
33
Great quote. Class war fare under the guise of equality.
3
Having grown up in Southern California, in a place and a time when the policeman was definitely not your friend...
This sort of thing has been going on for a very long time in many parts of the United States. It may be business as usual but it is also corruption writ small. As it spreads - and it is spreading as wealth consolidates and communities hollow out, it increasingly gives lie to the notion that the United States is a free nation.
It isn't. A joke I heard, not so funny when you think about it, is that the difference between Canada and the US is that Canada is a free country.
The only thing missing in this scenario is convict leasing. And I periodically hear proposals to bring some form of that as well...can't have all those idlers sitting around in jail doing nothing, you know, might as well put them to work...
Corruption writ large.
35
Our legal system works on behalf of the wealthy and the connected. High priced lawyers can get charges dropped on a technicality, a felony pleaded down to a misdemeanor, or a lengthy jail sentence transformed into probation. The poor have no advocate, no lobby, or a friend in high places to manipulate the system on their behalf.
32
I can't remember the last time I got a traffic or parking ticket, it must have been more than 20 years ago. It's a lot easier saving little bits of money than big gobs of it.
7
In other words, debtors’ prisons still exist, even though they were supposedly abolished years ago. Shame!
46
@Mary Patricia Rouille Sanchez
Is this any different than what the big banks do? A poor person has $100 in the bank, overdraws by $1.00 and every three days is assessed a $35 fee until settled. I used to work for Chase until I could no longer be part of such abuse.
90
@John Why would the poor need a bank account???
1
@John Essentially, no. In both cases, the system is: get as much money as you can. All other considerations are subservient.
3
Isn't this partially what precipitated the riots in Ferguson?
10
@Joey
You're right, but the story fails to reveal that the Missouri legislature has capped the amount of fines that municipalities can collect. Ten percent of budget, which is what St. Ann gets, is peanuts compared to the old days. That, apparently, got in the way of the thesis, so it wasn't mentioned. A more honest story would have focused on St. Louis suburbs, where the problem has long been recognized. I don't know how these towns continue to exist with caps on fines, but they do. The system might very well still be corrupt. I'd like to know how they're pulling it off.
3
There is a common denominator to the towns that use the legal and law enforcement agencies to raise town revenues through fees and fines.
They are typically, not always, economically depressed areas which do not have sufficient commerce, industry or property holders to sustain the tax revenue necessary to fund the town's activities. Upstate NY, rural northern midwest are two variants of the southern situation. Different tactics with the same economic drivers at the root of small town tactics to keep people employed in small town government.
Often, the town's administrators and other key employees are the major beneficiaries of the tax and fees revenue. The payroll costs and the health care benefits are the largest component of town expenditures. Services are minimal.
The reality is that many of the small town governments are not needed and should be consolidated into fewer but larger districts. That reality is what keeps the small town administrators zealously guarding their domains and circling their wagons when "outsiders" probe into their practices.
Shining a bright light on these situations is necessary for sure. Putting political pressure on state legislatures to address the situation is critical.
47
I only know the truth I see in Buffalo and it seems to match.
3
Michigan really ramped this sort of thing up around 2001, as manufacturing was leaving the state, and politicians didn't want to raise taxes or cut services, they upped fines and such. Last I checked, we also had the second highest incarceration rate in the country, behind, and this should be a surprise to no one, Florida, where the rate was over 1% incarcerated at any moment. New York was high on the list too as I recall. But this was some years back.
9
this story contained this:
as was the willingness of states including New Hampshire and Illinois to proactively train judges and clerks on the pertinent legal precedents.
Judges and clerks need to be trained in pertinent legal precedents. I propose we simply hold them in a cell until they demonstrate that they have sufficient education to do their jobs.
32
It is a crime to be poor in America. And poor Americans are urged to hate themselves.
31
@MVY-It's also a crime to be poor and to have or be forced to bear children because the children will bear the brunt of their parents' troubles.
8
"Land of the Free, Home of the Brave?" Apart from the Stalin era, Soviet Russia never had anything as bad as this.
7
Port Saint Lucie Fl. does this "revenue enhancement" by fining people (generally the poor ones) for code violations like high grass or some mold on their house or leaving a trash can in their driveway. They bring them to a kangaroo court (hundreds of dollars for "investigation costs" ) and issue daily fines and lien on their property. More cash they get, more code cops they hire. All the while the city says they respect "property rights". Right.
38
It’s just so incredibly sad
7
It's no crime to be poor, but it might as well be.
23
This bald-faced violation of the Constitution and federal statutes is just more proof that America is not a state of laws but rather a country of and for the wealthy.
A court is literally sending innocent citizens to jail without any respect of the right to legal counsel, in violation of the equal protection clause - and you can call them up and they'll brag about it.
18
I feel badly for Ms. Tillman's children. They are innocent victims. She on the other hand is an adult who continually makes poor decisions. I understand that life is hard but at least try to avoid self inflicted injuries.
26
@aimlowjoe-I do too. And this is the reason why birth control should be universally available and free. But how is someone in court without even $10, a job, or a roof over her head--going to get to a clinic? In Ms. Tillman's case, the nearest Planned Parenthood--which is Mississippi's only low-cost family planning health clinic--is between 4-1/2 and 5-1/2 hours driving distance away. And what's to prevent her from staying in this poverty cycle when she already has three children?
38
@aimlowjoe - one wonders how she works with no SS number.
Or qualifies for disability.
12
@aimlowjoe: Maybe if she can overcome her psychiatric problems, she will be able to make better decisions. Locking her up in jail does nothing to help her. She seems willing to try, but the jail sentence will not improve her standing with possible employers.
15
They have been using these laws to incarcerate and effectively enslave black people since the Civil War. The 14th amendment to the constitution states that the only legal way to take away someone's freedom is through incarceration. The Southerners have been use the inability to pay the small fines and add higher administrative fees to start the process and can extend it from months to years for "bad behavior"-- like complaining about this scam. It is telling that they also use it on poor white people and reflects the underlying Republican contempt for all poor people. Unfortunately, most of these poor white people will still vote for the republicans based on racial animosity towards blacks-- who should be their allies against this and other injustice.
28
Another article that leaves me totally disgusted at my country and the mostly fundamental "Christian's" fleecing the poor.
This is why I am as generous as I can be to Southern Poverty Law Center. Sending a check today.
Thank you for excellent reporting NYT
52
Interesting that the comments handily blame this on Republicans. I live in Portland, as far left as you want to go. As mentioned in the article, we're doing this here. We have many people sitting in county jails on trumped up charges and huge fines - to pay for the massive services this town keeps voting in. This is unconstitutional and wrong, and allowing the County/State to rely on large fees and fines to roll out expensive perks for the few is egregious. Oregon gets more that 40% of its revenue from fines and fees. And who gets hurt? The poor. You can't blame it on Republicans here, there aren't enough of them to win a dog catcher election. This is above a right/left issue - it's a government overreach issue, a privilege issue, and it's generally the upper-middle class that supports this, not understanding what raising all these fines really does to people less fortunate than themselves.
68
@GR,
Thank you for sharing the insight that this problem transcends our partisan divide and is really exacerbated by the problems of privilege and inequality. Your observation of this problem in Portland is instructive to us all.
7
@GR - Many, if not most, in the general populace do not know about this egregious system. Education first, then change the system.
2
My heart goes out to the people profiled in these stories being sentenced for insignificant infractions and for being poor. Efforts to pull themselves out of poverty and work are blocked because their communities and an extractive "justice" system gets more value and money from levying fines and locking them up. I'm grateful the NY Times has turned a spotlight on these practices -- and I hope lawsuits and public outrage lead to reforms that can be rolled out to other communities and states.
13
@Ann
Jamie Tillmann made a fair conclusion. Poore people, it seems, haven't the same rights as their fellow citizens. It's awful. Thanks to the NYT for the article. Warmly greetings across the pond to Jamie Tillmann and all other unfair treated people.
1
Fines and tickets are meant as a deterrent to keep people on the right side of the law. Get a ticket, pay it! Accept what you did.That's the only way to learn.
12
@Jeff in Chicago, no one is disputing that we have to pay tickets we get. But you have to be out of jail and able to work to pay a ticket, and targeting people who are sick and can't pay is inhumane to say the least. The pattern here of law enforcement targeting individuals known to them to be struggling, offering little to no defense or support in the court system, and violating Supreme Court rulings shows the broken nature of the whole system. And ridiculing a man with one leg? Not much protecting and serving there...
76
@Jeff in Chicago: Let's have a sliding scale for tickets. If your net worth is under $10'000, say, then a ticket of $100 seems reasonable. If you have a fancy house and a nice car and a steady income, the same ticket goes up to $5000. The pain should be spread about evenly.
21
@Jeff in Chicago
Fair point. Unsocial behaviour should be punished. But punishment has to be affordable. A penalty without considering the circumstances isn't helpful.
On the contrary, it's in the most profound way unsocial. You can't try to help someone by drowning him. Punishment without the sense of proportion is a useless waste of tax money and morally questionable.
14
Involuntary servitude is legal for those incarcerated. The jailed young people described in this story could have been put to work to earn their keep, but they were not. If that's done, we will be extending to the White Poor of the USA today what was done to the Black Poor of the USA 120 years ago.
After Plessy v. Ferguson was decided, industrial peonage became a regular practice throughout the South. Black men would be arrested on trumped up charges like vagrancy. Then they would be put to work doing the most dangerous jobs in mines and steel mills, usually dying in less than a year or two.
Trump may enable the White Poor of the USA and the Black Poor of the USA, men and women alike, adults and juveniles, to be treated the same way poor Black men were treated 120 years ago. We will be able to make real what Trump said in 2016: we will "Make America Great Again". We will treat the Poor in the USA in 2019 every bit as well as the Poor were treated in 1899. Moreover, modern information technology will enable the Poor of today to be much better supervised.
Who knew the Trump agenda could be so successful? Be Grateful your life was not featured in this story. Hallelujah. Say Amen.
8
@BigGuy-Your summary and transgressions by Jeff Sessions, who rescinded the “dear colleague” letter and other Justice Department advances and reforms, makes me weep.
7
This is excellent reporting, the kind that keeps me subscribing to the New York Times. Matthew Shaer is a very talented writer--I enjoyed his Avenatti profile too, but by addressing an important issue here, he has taken his work to the next level. Keep his work coming. This topic could make for a book--I would buy it for myself and several friends/family members. I agree with Left Coast that there should be hundreds of comments for this article.
34
Thank you for exposing this gross injustice. A related story investigating DUI instances in small towns (especially those that don't have good public transport and don't have Uber) would be interesting as I know of at least one place that seems to depend on DUIs for revenue.
In rural areas, people can't get to work. What's left to kill the pain...opioids?
29
locking up poor people for months at a time ?
reminds me of my impression that US Prisons have been outsourced to private for-profit companies - who have corrupt local judges in their pocket so even minor infractions by poor folk are given jail time – resulting in millions of dollars of government money straight into private companies' pockets.
in Australia we are seeing poor taxes - where electricity companies are offering large discounts to people who pay on time (richer people who can afford to automate direct debit) - with additional late fees - with the result that people who can least afford it end up paying much more than richer people - for the same basic service like electricity to their home.
27
It's interesting that the article on Rome in ruins generated 400-something comments, many from purported Americans.
And yet this article has one lonely comment thus far.
Our country has always revered the wealthy and stomped on the civil rights of poor and working class. It's no surprise that the most egregious cases of incarcerating the poor occur in red states. It's apparent they garner most of their money from "public safety" versus education, nutrition, health care, etc.
I'd be curious how many of these poor whites are Second Amendment advocates when in fact they should focus more on due process.
91
@Left Coast
I agree! Sadly shows where Americans' priorities are. One element I found interesting was that fines have an impact on both black and white people--it's an issue that transcends race and could unit people of different races in common cause. Perhaps that's why this issue is not covered by the likes of Fox News?
9
@Left Coast You had me until the last comment. Do you think the police as an institution care about protecting the poor? If poor people outside of the big cities hunt for food, just enjoy shooting, or feel they have to defend themselves because the police don't care, I don't fault them. There are too many cases of police ignoring or literally laughing off calls for help by people not living in the gated communities. Too many Democrats and Republicans both are enthusiastic about sticking it to the poor, though the latter is more bare-knuckles upfront about it. I don't see why poor have to give up Second Amendment protection so they can "focus" more on due process.
7
@Left Coast
First, good for NYT for reporting this. In reply to Left Coast, the Fall on Rome observation is interesting. You had me until the last sentence. My apologies if I misunderstood your intent. Why is it an "either-or" proposition? Why should "these poor whites" subscribe to a certain ideology to qualify for due process? I think the sentence rests on the assumption that poor whites are Republicans, and so maybe deserve what they get? I hate to say it, but Democrats and Republicans both embrace policies that hurt the poor, though one party is more blatant about it. If we only criticize one party, but ignore the faults of the other and idolize it, we won't fully overcome injustices articulated in this article. Open Secrets does detail that most for-profit prison lobbying targets Republicans, but Democrats also receive the campaign donations. A full debate on the Second Amendment and forms of extremism is beyond the scope of the article, but if poor whites hunt for food, target shoot for recreation, or fear the police will not protect them, perhaps we should listen to their point of view on that as well before trying to shame them into what they "should" do? Come to think of it, maybe giving the poor a meaningful way to voice their views could help prevent situations like what this article describes? That said, I think we can agree that this incarceration of the poor is doing no good. Apologies if two comments appear in reply.
6
This is an excellent piece. It is also exactly the kind of article in which one would expect to encounter a cameo appearance by Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III. The extraction of every nickel from the poor and the destitute has defined industry—in Southern states especially—since the nation’s founding. These woes are a legacy long in the making, but they needn’t be long in the correcting. Our politics needs to shift its focus to systemic reform. Quickly.
137