In Ferguson, People Are Tired of Being Jailed for Not Paying Parking Tickets

In Ferguson, People Are Tired of Being Jailed for Not Paying Parking Tickets
Protesters block the entrance to the Pine Lawn Police Department on Thursday, Feb. 5, 2015, in Pine Lawn, Mo. They were demonstrating against the municipal court's practice of collecting fines from indigent defendants. AP Photo/St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Chris Lee
Annie Wu
|Updated:

Keilee Fant has been incarcerated in the past because she couldn’t afford to pay her traffic tickets.

One time, Fant was detained in the city jail in Ferguson, Mo., for almost 50 days, without access to a toothbrush, shower, or change of clothes. Fant missed her father’s funeral while she was incarcerated.

Roelif Carter, a 62-year-old military veteran who suffers from a brain aneurism, was also jailed in Ferguson because he couldn’t pay $100 a month for his traffic violation fines.

Jail staff refused to let Carter’s wife bring his medication for high blood pressure and head pain caused by the aneurism.

Inmates are not allowed to shower or get clean clothes.
Annie Wu
Annie Wu
Author
Annie Wu joined the full-time staff at the Epoch Times in July 2014. That year, she won a first-place award from the New York Press Association for best spot news coverage. She is a graduate of Barnard College and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
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