Ferguson, Mo., is making money from jailing the poor.
On Sunday, civil rights attorneys filed class-action lawsuits against the cities of Ferguson and Jennings, Mo., for jailing indigent defendants when they cannot afford to pay their traffic tickets and other fines for minor offenses, violating their constitutional rights. The lawsuits allege that many such defendants are placed in jail without the courts making inquiries into their financial situation or appointing a lawyer to represent them during hearings.
In Ferguson, after an individual has been jailed, the court system will gradually reduce the amount the individual owes, in an attempt to collect as much money as possible, according to the court complaint filed at a federal court in Missouri.
But the longer the person stays in jail, the more it costs in taxpayer dollars to fund the person’s incarceration. When the individual’s family and friends still cannot come up with the money, the city will then release the person.
“The basic scheme of the City of Ferguson is to extort—through the threat of physical confinement—money from debtors who are otherwise unable to afford to pay both the basic necessities of life and their debts to the City,” according to the court complaint.
