The true problem with court appointed lawyers is their usual inexperience, and the lack of resources they are given.
In civilized countries, if you do not have much money you are a poor person with basic human rights to food, shelter, security.
In the United States, if you do not have much money you are not a person at all.
8
"Some of the same police officers who were acting as prosecutors chuckled, smirked and whispered as embarrassing details were discussed."
Shame on these police officers. Shame!
6
Evidently South Carolina believes that lawyers and due process are for people--not the poor or homeless. If this were 1905 we would probably set this down to racism, but whether the victims are black or white this is still the Old South at its worst.
5
I've often wondered what our nation would be like today had the South prevailed in the Civil War, understanding full well that many in today's South (and elsewhere) believe they never lost.
Unfortunately I have my answer.This article parallels what we see today in the Trump Administration and underpins why Trump's support in southern states (although eroding, thankfully) was/is strongest in that part of the country.
The white nationalism, the president calling neo-Nazi types "good people" and the utter disregard for the less fortunate - Trump calls them "losers" - is as if we have reverted to a revisionist history of the Civil War. And a civil war is what Donald Trump is now, seditiously, encouraging. South Carolina, and what this story documents, informs us that,for practical purposes the South did secede when it suits the ugly, extremist purposes of some who hope the South will rise again.
4
"Arrested or cited 270 times"...the price of poverty in this country.
It's not really the political parties that divide this country.
It's the division between the rich and the poor.
8
People love to move down South when they retire because their taxes are low. Here's one of the reasons--the state doesn't meet its constitutional mandates. Great place if you're a well-heeled retiree; not so great if you're poor or a minority.
7
No American should be able to read this article without a deep feeling of shame. As a people, we have lost our way.
12
If this man is mentally ill and waives his right to have an attorney doesn't that fall under the same law where a defendant is found "incompetent" to stand trial due to his mental incompetence? If so shouldn't a lawyer be assigned to his case whether he wants one or not?
1
And people think NFL players are protesting the flag and the military! They are protesting social injustice. The poor people of SC may have a beef. What's truly disgusting is the behavior of those who should have known better.
Sessions DOJ will be all over this, but on who's side?
7
When cops act as prosecutors,aren't they practicing law without a license,often a criminal offense.
3
NO! N0! NO! An article about the justice system in Sumter totally misses the point. Sumter is the poorest city in South Carolina and it has the highest crime rate. Sumter's problems all stem from poverty. And there are precious little public monies to feed the poor, house the poor, and provide them with public defenders. Laws and lawsuits that require public defenders across the board ignore the fact that there is no money in the system to comply. If the city has to provide lawyers to all the poor, something has to give. Among the most likely candidates are the homeless shelters.
Sumter needs more federal, state, and county funds. Providing an attorney to a 270-time offender every time he appears in court is hardly a top priority. Psychological services might help, but Marsh seem to have brain damage, not a psychological disease. You can spend $1 million on Marsh, or you can attack the core problem of poverty. For me, that's an easy choice.
2
Well, it is South Carolina after all and that's the only explanation needed. Many other states are no better. After all, why should a judge have a college degree or even be literate for that matter. As long as the court clerk is literate, the verdict can be memorialized in writing.
5
It's the only explanation needed if you have a closed mind. Surprising, I know, but there are a lot of bright, compassionate people in SC. Maybe more than in the northeast.
1
The comments here are priceless. The NYT consistently provides excellent coverage of police, prosecutor, and Riker's Island abuses in NYC, but somehow the commentors here see this as a "Red State" or a "Southern" problem. It's endemic throughout the USA.
11
Public defenders are purposely underfunded, since they would be representing the impotent, and therefore valueless, poor.
5
"“He scares customers, so we have to intervene". I'd like to know a little more about that part. As usual in the NYT these days I have a strong suspicion we are only getting half of the story. The last few years I've come across a lot of aggressive, unpredictable homeless people that I do my best to keep me and my family a safe distance from. Having been cited over 270 times, I have a hunch Mr. Marsh is one of those people but we are not given enough information in this story.
5
the poor are not represented properly in accord with our constitution in the united states.
the poor are not accorded healthcare in line with simple human decency in the united states.
everyone should "take a knee" whenever & wherever they hear our national anthem. it's not difficult to find a just cause that needs highlighting.
12
And who is going to pay to fix all the causes the left bleats about but won't prioritize? You?
In the real world, adults have to make decisions and place priorities, and there isn't enough money to fund an ideal society when there is no end to the frees stuff demanded as "human decency" by the liberals.
1
Is it just me or do these type of egregious violations of people's civil rights ALWAYS seem to occur south of the Mason-Dixon Line? What is it with Southern culture that those in power continually abuse those not so fortunate? Especially those not so fortunate to be born white. I can see where an re-enactment of Sherman's March to Atlanta might be in order here
4
A bad situation, indeed and one that will stimulate well-deserved empathy. What is missing in any real solution that prioritizes this particular problem along the spectrum of need in a modern society. Progressives demand funding for poor children, opiate addicts, refugees, illegal immigrants, the poor, the under-employed, the mentally ill, incarcerated individuals and their families. The list could go on forever. Do you fund Mr. 270 arrests and take the money away from schools?
What becomes of a society when increasing numbers of citizens cannot take care of their own needs and throw their problems at the feet of government? 100 percent taxation?
1
Um, you already are funding "Mr. 270 arrests" by criminalizing mental illness. Prisons aren't free.
This is typical of the short-sighted attitude that seems to be prevalent in the less-educated red states.
4
While there is not enough info to totally do the math, it seems clear that the city or state could have paid for an upper middle class home for Mr. Marsh, his food and clothing, and generous spending money, even gotten him a shrink, and still spent a lot less of taxpayer money than what the jail time cost.
But of course, that would eliminate the desire to inflict pain and the need to feel superior to "those people," whoever the relevant "those" turn out to be. The human species, especially the American version of it, is quite a sorry lot.
22
And what magical unicorn or money tree will you use to fund all the causes you claim "should be funded"? It's easy for the left to constantly gripe about all the "rights" like free health care, etc. that they demand. But when the math doesn't come close to working out, it's all someone else's problem (i.e. "the South" in this case).
Clearly, endless funding doesn't exist. So unless real world practical solutions are brought about, prioritized, and funded, aside from the NYT, etc. complaining about things like this, nothing will happen.
Southern charm and hospitality are alive and well only as long as you are a member of the tribe (Christian, conservative, white, have means, own property).
Fail to comport with the exact "standards" of the community, and the smiles of Southern belles and beaus whither way to icy stares and watch the fingers wag. Push it and you are put in your place by some sort of community-sanctioned physical or psychological violence administered in the name of law and order.
10
Articles such as these, well intentioned and written, often appear in the NYT. As lucky as we are for their regular publication an inference -however unintended- is that such cases, circumstances, etc., are exceptional and/or provincial. But as any criminal defense lawyer will tell you (I am one) if a person is poor, and especially if poor AND mentally disabled, the cracks in the system can/will swallow them whole. Indeed there is a "dark" administration of criminal justice that allow that those without resources are doomed to injustice.
10
Kind of like the VA has been full of incompetence and fraud over and over for many decades? Through lack of funding. The left never can understand that money for all their causes doesn't grow on trees, or that whining about such problems doesn't fix them.
1
I thought I was reading about criminal (in)justice system in a third world country, except it happens to be in the US. Can the victims who were wrongly sent to prison without due process get their records expunged and compensated? How about laying off those judges who made callous decisions and taking away their pensions and livelihoods? Publicize their names widely. There has to be severe punitive damages imposed on South Carolina's justice system. But who will do it? The politicians? Will the big corporations and social/sports organizations boycott the state of South Carolina until their criminal system is reformed?
3
Justice in South Carolina and many other states: You get what you pay for. Just one of the reasons we are no longer the leaders of the "free" world.
5
As a LEO in WA, I read this article with a sense of horror and outrage. This must change now. How can anyone in SC allow this to continue? This is the US not North Korea..
6
We live in Vancouver in Canada, where the weather is rarely extreme, we had a very warm summer, and there were warnings that there was going to be a heat wave. The citizens of Vancouver were given advice about how to keep cool and hydrated. Additional water fountains and showers were set up in public parks. There were announcements in the media that cold bottles of water were being distributed to the Homeless, as well as sunscreen, as well as the opportunity to take shelter in shelters, and places where there would be facilities provided for showering as well as doing laundry, and air-conditioning would be in place. The homeless were encouraged to use any number of places where they might find comfort and be protected from the heat wave. Perhaps those who believe that homeless people deserve less than respect for their humanity should examine their laws their lawmakers, and their own hearts.
It is uplifting to know that there are societies who do not believe that,
because some people have made poor choices in their lives, that they are to abandoned and forgotten.
7
I find myself puzzled over one, almost throw-away line in this article: "...an idiosyncratic system in which police officers serve as prosecutors, judges are not required to have college degrees, and public defenders are often absent".
The third element is discussed clearly and at length. The first element is also touched on, although not to the same level. The second element however...
Look, I'm an immigrant from the north, and I know the system is different. I understand that here judges are elected, except when they're appointed, except when people refuse to appoint them. Ok, maybe understand is an overstatement. Anyway.
How is it, anywhere in the US, a country founded by men who had studied and revered the law, that a JUDGE, the person who is charged with interpreting and upholding the law is not required to have a post-secondary degree in ANYTHING, much less the law? Isn't there something sort of fundamentally wrong when a major newspaper describes the process of a TRIAL, something laid down in the fundamentals of the structure of the COUNTRY as 'idiosyncratic'? Isn't standardization the whole point? Please tell me I'm missing something.
16
Most lawyers have undergraduate and professional degrees. However, the traditional route to becoming a lawyer was to "read law", that is, apprentice with a practicing lawyer. Several of the lawyers who were sworn in with me had read law, we were called up by law school we had attended.
I do not believe you have to have an undergraduate degree to read law. Keep in mind that very few lawyers go that route. But certainly such a lawyer could become a judge. The last Supreme Court justice who never attended law school was Mahlon Pitney (1912); Robert H. Jackson, FDR's appointee, read law but went to law school for a year and took a degree.
That is probably what the times is complaining about. I do not know if they are going after a specific person or not. I know the ABA would like to end reading law. If I had my way, I'd close all the law schools and make reading law the norm; that way you will have lawyers with experience and job prospects, if only with the supervising lawyer ...
Provocative story, but more needs to be explored. Every city has an area for tourism, recreation, and gentrification. Police officers are routinely told by their commanders [via edicts from city managers or city council members] to eradicate the undesirables from these areas. The presence of the undesirables hurt the feelings of the wealthier class, hurts their business interest. Police are told to use less than probable cause to harass these people under the doctrine of Terry v. Ohio, besides, who will advocate on these questionable stops? If officers refuse to profile the undesirables based upon a violation of the Fourth Amendment to the US Constitution, they are considered lazy and are punished or reassigned.
Meanwhile, tourists, wealthy individuals, or businessmen who commit similar minor violations are ignored. The ramifications of this selective enforcement are profound. Ask any City Manager if they have their favored tourist district. If they tell the truth, they usually have a foot patrol or bicycle patrol to harass these individuals. If there is a gentrified area, there is probably a directed patrol that targets the former poor inhabitants.
Black Lives Matter should be asking the public to look at the politicians who drive this train, not just the individual officers.
5
I wonder why no charity has gotten involved to attempt to assist him in remaining out of the system and perhaps change those things that scare people. I would think the local government would try something less costly.
5
@vulcanalex: Thanks for this (in both senses) thoughtful post. Sumter is church country; there must be many churches that could try to help.
2
And we thought that "my cousin Vinny" was only in the movies? Looks like it happens all the time in Southern States.
5
A paragraph or two presenting views of the customers and employees who claimed to have been harassed or intimated would have provided some interesting balance.
Aloha,
Loren
5
Anyone who thinks that the justice system of 1930's Germany was abolished in 1945, has not experienced the justice "system" of South Carolina!
9
Not sure that is a good comparison. You might be right if you are talking about political trials in Germany during the 1930s (really, more the 1940s), but if your only crime was shoplifting or loitering, you would have been tried by a very professional system, where both the Judge and Prosecutor would have been career Jurists with a law degree.
1
He's poor and homeless. He has no right to be free in South Carolina. The south lost the civil war long ago. Let's rectify that and through the soujh out of the union.
5
There is little help for the most vulnerable in South Carolina. It is an abusive and neglectful state, racist and uncaring. Lots of churches, few that actually follow Christ. Terrible roads. They refused federal money for medicaid, so lots of poor people suffering terribly without medical care.
17
Trump Justice
7
With situations like these, why do we pretend that our system of justice is an example for anyone to follow?
10
Is the jail a private for profit jail?
This situation is clearly wrong for everyone. Our society can deal with issues like mental illness and poverty better than jailing people! Housing first works and is less costly to taxpayers and certainly more humane to individuals who are homeless and struggling with mental illness and addiction.
And what about all those southern Christians? Jesus was a homeless man, actually, and you never know when angels come unaware.
19
Sue, that was my question too. None of this makes sense...and when something doesn''t make sense, follow the money.
Someone is making money otherwise they wouldn't continue this madness.
So my guess it's a private, for-profit jail so the jail collects the $1600 from the state for each and every incarceration and the judges who try to keep the jails full to be profitable, might receive a little $upport for their campaign funds.
1
Who benefits from this? Not the hapless Mr. Marsh. Not the overworked cops and judges? Who's making a buck off this racket?
19
Clearly the system is broken. However, I have seen abuse the other direction when the ACLU won the Pottinger litigation 15+ years ago, it institutionalized homelessness in Miami ( it finally has been somewhat modified). Homeless people were essentially assured rights that included urinating in public, building encampments, building fires and ignoring the public housing options. The back and forth between rights and obligations is not resolved in this country. Too many of the homeless are drug abusers and mentally ill. It is not possible to enforce a regime of medication, yet they need it. It's a generally bad set up all the way round
3
The only way this is likely to change is when the companies (whose business South Carolina spends so much effort and money trying to persuade to locate in S. Carolina) start challenging state and local officials about how they treat the destitute in their court system.
4
Those who comment that SC defendants like Mr. Marsh "waive their right to counsel" exemplify the mindset that creates this travesty of justice and trampling upon human rights and dignity.
As this piece mentions, a public defender is on retainer in the municipality where Mr. Marsh lives. That attorney apparently does not, however, consider that actual availability to indigent clients is any part of his job. Nor does this judge seem to think that the 8th Amendment, requiring reasonable bail, applies to municipal courts. Mr. Marsh's ability to "knowingly and voluntarily" waive his rights does not seem to have been a concern of the court, despite his brain injury and mental illness.
Bottom line? There is no justice being served in this corrupt system. The arresting officer repeatedly prosecutes and testifies against the accused before a judge who has no interest whatsoever in the Constitutional guarantees to those charged with offenses.
I wish this were an exceptional example of abuse, but it is not. As one who spent years working in poverty law, I know this all too well. This is, instead, business as usual for our country's poor. And things are only getting worse.
22
My question is: if the other players in the courtroom workgroup (judge and prosecutor), could a defendant request to be represented by a non-attorney of his/her choice? Someone who knows the basics of due process and criminal procedure (jailhouse lawyer, student intern, etc), could they openly assist in the defense an take on the duties typically done by attorneys?
1
No. A defendant may represent him/herself after knowing and voluntary acknowledgement of the risks, but, otherwise, it is the unauthorized practice of law.
4
In South Carolina, many a police department or municipal court is funded by fines and penalties. Mostly these fees are directed towards lower economic folks who simply cannot afford to pay. When they don't pay, they are re-arrested and put back in jail. This revolving door justice destroys families and creates instant financial crises for those least able to survive such imposed calamities. The Feds are looking at this closely, but progress has been glacial. Clearly public opinion has to be alerted to these injustices.
15
I'll bet it breaks Jeff Session's heart.
1
This is why low tax - low service states are to be avoided.
17
Could someone tell me the injustice that's being done to Mr. Marsh? He is refusing his right to counsel, and given the number of prior times he has been convicted, they do not seem to be treating him too terribly. He could avoid the whole thing by not going on the private property from which he has been barred, or by moving to another town. I do not think he would have to pay for the bus ticket.
This kind of practice underlines the nonsensical kind of intransigence that we have seen from much of the right in recent times. Shipping someone off to jail repeatedly just because they are homeless is destructive and also destructive for everyone involved. It just makes it that much harder for the homeless to raise themselves up, while costing far more than simple treatment and housing solutions.
11
My brother in law is a psychologist for the women's jail in our county. In his talks with these women he has discovered that among them are homeless women who got tired of being homeless. They deliberately broke the law in some way (lesser felonies) so they could spend time in jail. The jail is not run by a private company.
In the meantime, my city is trying to come up with a way to provide housing for the homeless. One idea was good, but citizens pushed back because of NIMBY. Unfortunately, without the housing, the homeless are, in effect, in everyone's front yard and have no chance of becoming well groomed enough to get jobs. A decent solution, acceptable to everyone, has not been found.
Through talks with homeless people, when giving them money and asking how they became homeless, I have discoverd that: some come from out of state; some had jobs or even businesses but lost them in the banking crisis; most are not mental cases; most would love to have a hot shower and get a job.
4
States are assuming more "rights" than should be allowed. If there is an issue of the U.S. constitution being ignored in a state, the federal government and federal courts should take over. Another example of corruption is the locally run bail system which activates debtor prison as a punishment. Reflecting on another comments' entry, we need someone who can channel Charles Dickens and expose these hideous injustices in the U.S.
5
I recognize that this will be unpopular, but isn't it possible that the man who is the subject of this article prefers jail to life on the streets? Jail means three meals a day, showers and toilets, a bed, television, and access to medical care. Presumably this man has waived his right to a public defender. I am all for public defenders being provided to the indigent.
2
Waiver of a right such as the Sixth Amendment right to counsel must be knowing and voluntary, which in turn requires, among other things, that the person be competent to make the decision to waive. This article describes a systemic decision not to inform people of their rights and a clear misuse of bail provisions to incarcerate people who do insist upon their right to a jury trial which is several weeks off. It is as they said in Watergate: "Follow the money." These courts are often disgracefully designed to maximize fees and minimize due process. As with those Ferguson courts that supplied a large share of the municipal budget with traffic fees and fines.
4
I'm an attorney who works on habeas petitions, so I'm well aware of the laws on right to counsel. I agree that this article describes a systemic problem, but the number of times this man has committed the same infraction and gone to jail suggests that maybe he likes jail.
2
Abby:
Maybe he likes jail because he prefers it to living on the street. Or didn't you think of that?
2
The USA is losing its patina of civilization. Slowly but deliberately. Refusing to take care of those in need is proof positive of a nation regressing and sinking. Deciding that only some citizens are worthy of decent treatment? The same thing. Maybe it’s time to admit the jig is up and that the USA is no longer a nation. Maybe it’s just a series of republics with varying levels of humanity. Reading this story is at once heartbreaking and stupefying.
35
Losing it's patina of civilization? I don't think it ever had it.
Long ago I remember talking to an elderly German woman
who had come to America in the late 19th century with her
her husband as missionaries.
"To the Indians" I asked.
"Oh no", she answered ," to the Texans!"
2
Poor people always end up in jail. Do they have any other options available?
Rich people never go to prison, hardly ever. Even for murder.
How many millionaires are there in prison?
In lieu of prison, many drug addicted send their selves or adult children to private hotel rehab centers like Promises in Malibu instead. Judges agree to this arrangement, always.
Simply it is a crime to be poor in this nation. As it is to be mentally ill or addicted.
29
This is the kind of nightmare that happens when states' rights rears it's ugly head. The red states that so embrace states' rights show over and over again that there is no bottom they are unwilling to go to deprive poor and marginalized people of their basic humanity. Whether it's middle-age white homeless or young black men, conservative red states without federal intervention will resort to neglect, incarceration, and the death penalty to manage their poor and the powerless. Make no mistake, American national politics is over the central question as to whether an activist federal government is necessary in this country to guarantee minimal human rights so that homeless do not get hauled off to prison without representation. This is a settled issue, enshrined in the Gideon Decision of 1963 that originated from Florida. But, who will enforce it in the Trump administration? Jeff Sessions from Alabama? Don't hold your breath. It's ironic that working class whites in red states who supported Trump most adamantly are going to be the silent and invisible victims of the administration as it strips away their health care, economic development programs, environmental protection, and rights to legal counsel. In the very near future, working-class whites in the Deep South will come to a realization of what they lost as they left the Democratic Party in droves to the GOP baited by racial politics of Nixon and Reagan: your ability to live with basic human dignity.
22
H. L. Mencken was clearly right about "the South" - and he wrote about it almost a century ago.
7
Don't you know it's illegal to be caught poor in the USA? Poverty is a sure sign of God's displeasure at the poor person's laziness and bad character. We need to partner with God and make an example of them so more people don't fall back on the indigent lifestyle we all secretly want to live. Put them in stocks in the town square. That's what Jesus would do.
27
I sincerely hope you are being sarcastic?
1
This country is over!!!!!
3
Overlawyered?
Depressing to see that we are right back to the types of injustice that many of the first Europeans came here to escape 400 years ago! Our founders and ancestors would be so proud they fought a 'Revolution'. Why did we bother. At this point we'd probably have more equality under the law if we were still English.
8
This is what happens when judicial systems are consciously underfunded...there is no $$$ to pay for the public defenders which everyone is Constitutionally entitled to, nor to hire enough of them to make sure that they are not overworked and can actually provide their clients with a competent defense.
Justice for all......NOT!
13
Thank you for reporting on the confluence of many important topics which go largely ignored in our towns, states, and nation: mental health care, the use of the prison system as a de facto mental illness facilities, and the underfunding of public defenders offices.
None of these issues win votes and some go against powerful interests in some localities, like correctional facility unions.
For the sake of the mentally ill, the poor, and the falsely accused, we need to fix these problems.
8
Mr. Marsh, we assume, waived his right to a lawyer each time. His right under the Constitution. Why does the article not mention he waived his rights?
1
As I wrote in reply to another commenter, waiver requires knowing and voluntary relinquishment of a known right. A person with mental illness, no home, no social support system, and no income when he is being jailed may not be in a position truly to make autonomous decisions about representation that isn't going to materialize in any event! Catch-22, anyone?
6
The article describes a court proceeding where all of the defendants who wanted to plead "not guilty" were told of their right to a lawyer, but the catch is that there are no public defenders available. So anyone who wants a lawyer has to go to jail and wait for one. The wait in jail can be longer than the sentence would be for a guilty verdict.
Other than that, it's all very just and fair.
5
Why assume? Is the judge making a fair bail decision under the 8th Amendment when the choice is to wait in jail for a couple of months until an attorney shows up, or to just have the judge hear the case right now? Of course not. There alone is undue pressure to waive. Trespass SHOULD be an offense for which defendants are released on their own recognizance (no cash required). Only class 1 felonies are unbailable.
And where IS that public defender? He has a contract to represent indigent individuals. That implies a responsibility to show up to court for "first appearances" to enter pleas and set bail. When I did this work, the jail called when potential clients were booked; it's not rocket science to schedule.
There is a presumption of innocence in the US, even if you are poor, brain damaged, and mentally ill. Perhaps that presumption is even more critical - and deserving of protection - if you fall into any of those categories.
3
I have an idea and this might sound a bit crazy but it just might work. How about instead of acting like Scrooge from A Christmas Carol saying it's not your business and not caring, how about having an actual heart like have feelings. I know this is a new idea to actually care about the poor after all they have thoughts, feelings, hopes, dreams, and bleed red just like everyone else. This being an actual decent human being who actually cares is pretty new but follow me on this and instead of jailing the poor take them into your home and feed and clothe them. Of course it's easier to hate and be a totally selfish self centered hard hearted uncaring unloving unkind horrible person but try the opposite of that for once in your life if you can. I know it's hard to be loving but just try it once.
More than half of the municipal courts in SC have no public defenders available? Have the leaders of the state, its counties, and its cities read the constitution? Apparently not. Skip the first amendment, misinterpret the second amendment, and then gloss over the rest.
Mr. Marsh may be guilty of at least some of his transgressions, but without a competent lawyer, how we will we ever know?
Justice denied is justice lost, regardless of the state.
5
Many small counties in many states do not have public defenders. They draw upon the local bar, who are appointed as counsel.
Frequently described as and lauded domestically in the press as "the greatest criminal justice system in the world," the U.S. criminal justice system is an international joke.
5
Except for the relatively few people in SC who subscribe to the NYT, most people in South Carolina will never see or hear of this story. I just checked the websites of the state's three biggest papers, located in Charleston, Greenville and Columbia (state capital) and see no mention of the story. It's another thing the state's news media will ignore because they wouldn't want to upset SC's powerful and rock the boat, and also why highlight that South Carolina's news media are not doing their job.
9
What can we do? I'm serious. We see the injustice. We feel the outrage. We know the problem exists. But you, the media, never tell us; what can we do?
What's the point of telling us a problem if we are not informed of any options as to what we can do about the problem? I know the argument, that it's the job of the media to reveal and relay and it's the public's job to figure out what to do with that information. But most people don't have the time nor resources nor the knowledge to inform themselves on how to effectively pressure and change government, let alone actually carrying them into action. So I ask you once again; what can we do?
5
We can lobby our legislators to put more money into mental health services and housing for the homeless.
7
Support the ACLU and the NAACP. These are the people who go after states and towns that violate civil rights; as they did in the 60s, they are still active doing now. Also, many law schools have pro bono programs to help low-income people with legal problems in many areas, including understanding their civil rights and court representation.
4
You can join the ACLU and the Southern Poverty Law Center as a sustaining member, that’s what you can do!
1
I don't know what we would do without the NYT to report on these issues.
3
What's new: "War Against the Weak" (Edwin Black) is still on.
It is "The America Nightmare" not Dream.
And of course, those dudes of South Carolina are not Christians: "You will always have the poor with you" Jesus Christ.
2
And here's the governor of SC: ' "We believe in God, we believe in Jesus, and we don't mind saying so," McMaster said of South Carolinians, highlighting his efforts as the state's former attorney general to defend prayer in schools.' Sickening hypocrites.
12
Why does the times take the word of the ACLU's plaintiffs, convicted criminals, as though they were handed down on stone tablets?
1
Well, it wasn't written on stone, exactly, but the Bill of Rights provides that no one is duly "convicted" if he or she has been denied due process in achieving that result. It truly matters how you obtain a conviction, and not just that you obtained one. Madison, especially, was very concerned about British practices with respect to representation, cross-examination, and search and seizure when the Bill of Rights was being drafted.
2
I believe ACLU steps in because civil liberties are the cornerstone of democracy, and conviction of crimes in courts that violate one's civil liberties are undemocratic and invalid. They are guardians of our most valued freedoms.
Welcome to compassionate America, where if you are poor and mentally ill, we jail you hundreds of times with no legal representation and make you poorer and sicker. America is no longer the shining city on the hill we like to think it is.
38
OK Mister Compassion,
Write a check. No one is stopping you.
1
Ditto for Louisiana, Alabama, and Mississippi where “Jesus is Lord” for the cynical good “Christian” folks running things in state government who truly know nothing about the teachings of the Sermon on the Mount.
The “guilty until proven innocent” system is not only violative of the Equal Protection provisions of the 14th Amendment of the US Constitution, but makes no economic sense as well.
But voting against one’s own economic interest has been elevated to an art form by the benighted electorate in these states. It’s all good so long as the poor (mainly black) folks are kept down in their place.
12
How does the judge sleep at night?
The judge's actions do no honor the constitution, basic values or even simple logic.
The only way this judge sleeps at night is by dehumanizing the people who come before the court. This judge doesn't see these people as human. They are seen as less-than-human.
And my guess? The judge goes to church on Sunday.
Shame.
18
Shouldn't we rename the Department of Justice to Dpt. of Injustice? It seems well deserved, given the facts. A paradigm is needed, so what is on paper gets translated, accurately, in practice. Lest we forget. a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. Unless we insert hypocrisy as our guiding light.
2
Being from Chicago, I have never met a judge or a cop that wasn't on the take. The only people going to jail are people who can't afford to buy their way out or hire a decent lawyer. It's a criminal injustice system folks, we jail more people than China (at 3x our population).
11
This whole lawyer thing is expensive and inefficient. "Civil rights" is simply passe in this society. Pick 'em and transport them directly to jail. They will get the message to move somewhere else.
2
There is only the 2nd Amendment. All other are fake.
5
Anyone that believes the TV shows that depict the prosecutors and judges striving for justice is a fool. I have dealt with the Miami Dade justice system and can attest that justice is the last thing on their minds.
4
Simple: Red States purposely fail to fund attorneys for poor defendants. They even appoint real estate attorneys to defend death penalty cases. Justice belongs to white people with money.
7
Maybe conservatives have a second amendment solution to this sixth amendment problem. I would love to see the heavily armed homeless demonstrate their right in a wealthy are of South Carolina.
3
The "poor" will always go to jail. It clears the consciences of many people, right or wrong. How many days do you REALLY believe that Weinstein will spend in jail?
5
The Old South hates the Constitution. Well, not the second amendment. But the rest of the Constitution.
12
It's sad that so many commenters here think that this unconstitutional behavior by the courts only happens in the South.
I recommend that they spend a day at their local courthouse, where they'll almost certainly see plenty of poor and/or mentally ill people being railroaded straight to jail.
The NYTimes does a disservice by pretending that this is a rural Southern problem, rather than a nationwide problem.
4
Every day, I am more convinced that the "South" is rising again. Beneath a thinly veiled southern charm seethes bias, discrimination and a contempt for those who are not white, male, christian, and employed.
5
American "justice"? For whom? White men with money! No women, no poor, no African Americans, no Native Americans, no other people of color, need apply. For the homeless Utah has shown the way, WAKE UP AMERICA! For drugs Portugal has shown the way, WAKE UP AMERICA! For healthcare Europe, Australia, Japan have shown the way, WAKE UP AMERICA! Poverty is the greatest crime in the USA, we are responsible for the poor in our nation, WAKE UP AMERICA!
7
A high school kid gets 30 days in JAIL for fighting?!?!?!? That's insane.
5
Patrick: The judge saw the video. You haven't. You know better than him?
After showing it was not even him!!!
I know South Carolina well and it's a backward, scary place in the most important ways. The powerless have no rights and the people in power do whatever they want. There's no watchdog news media there; the media kowtows to the powerful. It takes the New York Times to come in and do this story. Oppressive, shameful, disgraceful, illegal and with a slave master's mentality the powerful rule the state, leaving the powerless in fear. The state is stuck in the 1950s-1960s in many regards.
22
Putting people in jail for petty infractions is just stupid and ineffectual. A person who loses their benefits or their job because they are put in jail is a costly non-solution that impacts the entire community. The mentally ill don't improve their behavior because of the threat of jail -- they need effective treatment. A person who loses his/her job because of a petty infraction may be pushed into more serious criminal activity to secure money. The taxpayers are footing the bill for this ridiculous situation.
25
While reading the article, I had to stop to make sure that I was not going over a bad script of the Dukes of Hazzard.
As someone mentioned in one of the comments, diverting a few billions from the war machine to the justice system is not only necessary but mandatory if we want the American Way to survive.
These considerations are specially important now, when the rule of law seems to work only for crooked politicians, white collar criminals, corrupt corporations and anyone with the money to buy his way out.
If we don't act promptly and decisively in this regard, in less than fifty years, the America we know will nothing but an old postcard. Just look at what's happened in the past two years.
13
The best solution for homelessness is government-provided housing. It's been successful in jurisdictions as different as New York and Utah. Even a conservative publication's review of Utah's program concluded that "giving away" housing to homeless people made the most sense.
http://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/the-answer-to-homelessness/
"When Utah officials added up the amount going into medical treatment and law enforcement, the cost to the state per homeless individual was more than $216,300 a year in 2007 dollars, according to Housing Works. The cost of housing, rent assistance, and full-time case management, meanwhile, was just $19,500."
Explain to me again why South Carolina is repeatedly incarcerating this guy. Has that state not made the same calculations that Utah did?
8
We can't afford to provide lawyers. How else can we keep taxes low? We have already cut education to the bone and our infrastructure is a disaster. There are few other ways to take advantage of the poor so as to avoid taxes or having to spend money on things for the public good.
11
Cross from Georgia or North Carolina into South Carolina and notice how the roads immediately deteriorate and are inadequate. I-85 through the upstate is a complete parking lot each day. Complete gridlock trying to get to work. State legislature only recently agreed to increase road funding from that of the early 80s.
2
You cannot tell me that arresting a man 270 times is cheaper than providing him with a place to live in a state where prevailing median rents are ~$600 per month and have churches like they were Chik'Fil'A's. Not buying it.
The ACLU should continuously prosecute the state, the counties and the judges complicit in these gross Constitutional violations.
108
Sounds like a good 60 Minutes segment.
While they're at it they should just house everyone for free. Because money grows on trees and there are no other priorities that society could possibly have.
How many homeless do you house, or pay to house? It's a big problem. Just saying "society should house and care for everybody with problems" isn't a magical solution. And what do you want to give up in exchange? Education? Food stamps? Which of roughly 100 federal anti-poverty programs?
1
The ACLU doesn't "prosecute" anything.
Lets forget morality and focus soley on hard economics. Theyre too cheap to provide even public defenders, let alone any kind of humane system to help people get back on their feet, so instead they pay millions to haul people into courts and warehouse them in jails. Then when they lose their jobs it costs the economy more, if they have children the children suffer immensely and cost the state even more money. Are South Carolina residents really ok with wasting police and judge resources to rearrest the same people over and over? What is the real cost of traumatizing 20 percent of the population and the people who depend on them, creating a self-perpetuating cycle of pain and delinquency? Is it more or less than hiring a few lawyers and obeying the Constitution?
6
In an age when we are trying to shrink government and reduce its costs, handling citizens as described in this article seems to cost more than, for example, providing people without housing a place to live. Police officers, prosecutors, judges, jailers, etc., are not cheap. Nor are courthouses and jails. It all sounds like a program to guarantee full employment for certain categories of government employees.
7
Being poor, homeless, mentally ill - these are not crimes. However, the system decribed in this article effectively criminalizes such statuses and enforces the cycle of poverty by separating poor people from any resources or employment they do have. It is also clearly an enormously unjust kangaroo court in which fundamental principles of the American justice system are ignored. And taxpayer dollars are paying for it all. Any judge willingly participating in this miscarriage of justice should be removed from the bench.
72
But then there would be no judges in South Carolina.
3
America now believes in genocide by malign neglect rather than positive and pro-active actions to improve people's lives. The target groups are the old, the poor, people of color, hispanics, Muslims, and LGBTQ people.
4
I think the "starve the beast" tax philosophy of SC and other low tax Southern states is having exactly there effect desired by the state's legislators: it is their hope that people like Larry Marsh will get tired of being hassled and, if deprived of any type of healthcare, housing, or social services, will get on a bus to another state. I'm kind of surprised some local Sumpter businessman or cop hasn't bought a one way ticket for Mr. Marsh already. One can visit homeless shelters and strips of cheap hotels in Florida where such poor refugees from up north end up on government assistance and subsidized temporary housing courtesy of the citizens of Florida.
1
Stories such as this are the reason that I stopped standing for the national anthem, or saying the pledge, about 10 years ago. Too much of what America claims to be is just pure propaganda.
83
Those of us in the culture that reads The Times express surprise that people outside that culture dwell in an America where the Constitution is an option, not the law. We think it's some sort of accident. It isn't. That's the norm. We're the exception.
35
There is much talk about the government "coming for our guns." Please note that the government, in terms of its ability to do as it pleases, is not at all concerned about guns in the hands of private citizens. What does the government (ESPECIALLY state and local governments) care about is the ability of citizens to LEGALLY defend themselves from tyranny. South Carolina is the story of the day, but they are hardly alone (see, Louisiana for another example). Cutting corners on funding defense is so common it's practically a cliché.
At the same time, as this article notes, state and local governments seem to be comfortable using fines and misdemeanors NOT just as a way of keeping order, but as an important revenue stream. Look no further than Ferguson, MO, to see an actual conspiracy amongst politicians, courts and police leadership combined to prioritize extracting the maximum amount of money from the poorest citizens. In the civil context, the governments embrace of policies favoring arbitration clauses and weakening unions is another example of weakening the average person's ability to legally defend themselves.
The point is that organizations like the ACLU, the SPLC, an investigative reporter or even a kneeling athlete are doing much more to defend the nation from tyranny than the Clive Bundys and Ted Nugents of the world. In the long term, the pen really is mightier than the sword.
21
Criminalizing homelessness is lazy, short-sighted, and ineffective public policy. It also inaccurately lumps all homeless people and their unique backgrounds/situations into one, stigmatized group of ne’er-do-wells, presupposing that culpability for being chronically homeless rests solely on the individual when in fact homelessness is far more complex than that. Consider as an example, the young, able-bodied LGBTQ individuals in SC who are suddenly kicked out of their parent’s home, simply b/c of their sexual orientation or gender identity. My, God what lazy people they are!
It’d be interesting to find out what is more cost effective in the long run, providing public housing for those who need it so they can access services and ultimately get back to contributing to society or just arresting and re-arresting those folks who are “trespassing” b/c they have nowhere else to go or stay. In any case, looks like the state gets a deal by not providing legal counsel to the chronically homeless who are arrested in Sumter. I would imagine this gentleman, unfortunately, can only access the social services he needs—food, housing, healthcare, etc.—in jail.
7
If the people of SC decided it was their Christian duty to care for the mentally ill, it would happen. The question is, why can't they see that they need to take care of this "brother," because he obviously can't take care of himself?
There are not enough beds for the mentally ill and homeless because there is not enough love in the community. Yet they go to church on Sundays and Wednesdays, and proclaim their love of Jesus every day.
37
You have to vote your conscience and your faith. They don't. Most don't.
Good point. Judging by comments on other articles, there are a few right-wing Christians who read the NYT. Anybody out there?
An exceptional country.
8
I am shocked, shocked, that Republican controlled jurisdictions in the Old South flaunt the Constitution, and waste huge sums illegally abusing the poor and the mentally ill... and they always jabber about the Bill of Rights!
21
But that Second Amendment, man is that right up there before Due Process, etc.
3
Winston, the Repubs "flaunt" the Constitution only while they "flout" it.
1
I thought it was decided years ago that jailing the homeless was a self-defeating activity. To people without options, jail can mean three hots-and-a-cot.
2
As a lawyer who has represented hundreds of indigent clients over the years, I have never - not once - witnessed such a client express the "three hots and a cot" attitude about being in jail. If anything, the opposite is true: far too many would consider admitting guilt to something they didn't do, just to get released.
Homeless people don't like being involuntarily thrown into an environment that includes violent felons and gang members any more than you would. Being incarcerated also means being separated from what meagre possessions they have, often permanently. Those who depend on disability payments and social services, like the man in the article, see such services interrupted, often at great cost to their mental and physical health.
This whole concept that being in jail is like going on vacation for the homeless is nothing but a right wing fantasy.
131
Kudos for your comments and thank you for helping the people who need it most. You're a gift to the profession.
11
Thank you, John Q. I did not know this. Not stupid, just ignorant.
2
“He scares customers, so we have to intervene,” Chief Roark said.
********
How does he scare customers? Do they say? Or is it just a way to justify the discomfort a homeless white male causes? Because Walter Scott scared a Charleston police officer and got killed. But Walter Scott was black.
South Carolinians sure do scare easy.
60
Scare or not, they have a right to exclude him from their property and to enforce no-trespassing laws. I wonder how you'd like Mr. Marsh and half a dozen more who act like him blocking your front door?
As a Mayor of a South Carolina municipality and an attorney, I believe this article did not include the larger reason why our poorest citizens often do not have legal representation. For municipalities there simply is not enough money to fund all the obligations to our citizens. My city provides legal representation to any person who has a possibility of jail time. However, we are currently understaffed in our police department by 15 positions. I have raised taxes three times in eight years. South Carolina local governments have to pick our poison - we do not have funds for all our obligations to our citizens. The reason is that our state legislature has consistently cut the local government fund. We are funded at levels from the 1990s. I do not see any improvement in the future due to gerrymandered districts, extremely limited annexation laws and "no tax increase" pledges by legislature.
132
I think it was Reagan who first legitimized the anti-tax, anti-government idea, and it's done untold harm to our communities ever since.
6
Thank for writing this and for your public service. This is what "no tax increase" means in practice.
11
Hi Welborn. You have expertly listed the reasons I sold my beautiful property in Greenwood and left the state for good. It is a pleasure knowing at least one person in the state (and the City of Greenwood) reads the NYTimes. You were always a good Mayor.
5
This happens in Michigan as well, and certainly all over the country. The debtors prison is alive and well in 21st century America.
80
If the poor spend time in jail because they can't pay their fine, doesn't this make the taxpayers the debtors?
Or are we the dotards?!
2
In ways large and small the beautiful concepts that make America a bastion of individual liberty, rights and dignity are eroding.
If we let injustice into our everyday legal structures, the foundation of our country - respect for law - will weaken with terrible results.
Defense of America and all it stands for is much more than soldiers and weapons. These have there place.
But, a few billion diverted from a bloated military budget and spent wisely on making our courts more modern, efficient and functional in the way our founders knew was crucial to their vision, is as vital to the defense of our "American way" as any battleship or bomber.
We have enemies without.
Let's not overlook the enemies within.
Neglect and complacency over the legal systems that preserve our way of life.
When they go away, America goes away.
32
And yet people won't go cast a ballot....
2
But for the different accent and the veneer of southern "charm", Dickens would recognize in SC the 19th-centurry society he wrote about.
51
Grand Old Prisons
Grand Old Profit
Grand Old Punishment
GOP 2017
Nice GOPeople.
32
This is so beyond reprehensible! One would think that simple reason would cause the “judge” to find SOME of the accused innocent of charges. These court officers could do with some training by the ACLU. How sad.
14
Ha, ha like they want any kind of training!
5
Lindsey Graham, did you read this article? Nah, no need, you know. Besides, you work on more grandiose ways to not serve your people. I sometimes think you have backbone, but then you always dissolve like sugar in rain. The thing is, people keep electing you and others just like you or worse. That is the real problem, and one that clearly is not ever going to be fixed. When we are young, we have such hopes that certain views and behaviors can be changes. Then, you see them repeated all your life and realize that there are just a lot of ugly people around and they like it that way.
50
David it is an issue with the state legislature and wuite frankly people whom live here and do not support any tax increase. Our roads are falling apart so bad in areas that the asphalt crunches beneath tires.
1
PJR: Yes, I understand that money is tight, but we are talking about constitutional rights that are being violated systematically regarding criminal cases. That cannot stand up to a court challenge and should not be tolerated. If a person cannot be represented by counsel because of funding issues, then the case should be dismissed. If you start ignoring constitutional rights, then we no longer live in the US.
3
Kudos, South Carolina. The Confederacy lives, and NOT in a good way.
This is not a Justice system, but Justice Theatre. Shameful.
45
South Carolina's kangaroo court. I guess this is called southern justice but people like Judge Curtiss should be ashamed of themselves.
17
Jesus would be so proud of America.
66
Yes, as an ex-pat from South Carolina, I can attest -- praise the lord and pass the ammunition.
9
Sad world we live in. If living beings actually cared and had love for each other, no homeless would ever be on the streets. So much wasted and corrupted resources to accomplish nothing for these human beings. Why not care a little more for others by offering therapy, work and a chance to be a productive member of the human world. My heart goes to all these homeless humans who never asked to be born and most certainly never wanted to be in this situation of constant suffering and abandonment. We must love all living beings more than we love ourselves.
6
And it only works if we vote that way.
2
Given the current "war on the poor", I wondered when debtors prison would be given a reprise. Well, effectively, here it is.
88
Well, debtors prison is not limited to the south. It took an ACLU law suit to end it in Benton County, Washington.
5
As a California defense lawyer who has experienced America's unjust justice system, I can attest to this outrage. Regardless of where it happens, there is often a racist motive. Further, money is often a motive as well.
For those naive souls who believe America is exceptional, it isn't.
America has a long way to go before it even begins to live up to its claims.
136
I am appalled that some 24 states will sit a judge without a degree.
105
What is he doing when he "scares people". Just existing as a homeless man?
73
Welcome to the 21st Century USA, one of the richest countries on the planet..
63
I read this article and was filled with a million questions as to how police could ticket someone 270 times for trespassing and not find a better option for a mentally ill homeless man. Social services, mental health clinic, homeless shelter, etc. -- surely the area has somewhere available to help this person. The time and money involved in ticketing, arresting and jailing such a person would be better spent helping him. Love thy neighbor.
116
No, they don't have many "better options". "Social services, mental health clinic, homeless shelter, etc." are all insufficient to take care of all the people who need them, so many people fall through the cracks. In the USA if you're not self-sufficient, you're a loser who deserves nothing better than what you "chose".
31
If this is a Sixth Amendment issue then shouldn't enforcement come at the federal level? I have zero hope of that happening under the current administration, but can't help wondering why nothing was done under President Obama, especially given his legal background. Was there anything that stood in the way? What am I missing?
26
The police and the legal system in South Carolina has been exposed for their corruption and cruelty repeatedly in the last few years. The Washington Post did a whole series on the outrageous state of the police in that state. Yet nothing has been done about any of it because the majority there is happy with all of it.
12