Arch City Defenders, a non-profit legal group, filed a suit against the city of Maplewood in November alleging the city enforces a racially biased bail system that “exploits poor people to generate revenue.” Now one of the plaintiffs has spoken out, according to KMOV.
The man said he was arrested for not paying several tickets and for not showing up to his court date. See an interview of the man on KMOV.
He told KMOV, “I stayed two days and my bond was lowered to $200, and I’ve just been threatened with this, or threatened with that. Pay, pay, pay.”
According to the lawsuit, Maplewood’s court recordings state that a person cannot cancel an arrest warrant unless they make a cash payment. The suit makes other claims also.
“You’re not supposed to jail someone in the United States of America solely because they are unable to make a payment. That’s just not the law, it hasn’t been that way for a long time. It has been the common practice in our region for such a long time that we’ve sort of forgotten how insane it is to lock somebody up because they are poor,” ArchCity co-founder, Thomas Harvey told KMOV.
You can’t make the left understand.
I just watched the video. He received 3 tickets, plates were wrong on the car, and he didn’t have insurance were 2 he stated. Don’t know what he meant by plates were wrong on the car, but everyone knows it is the law to have insurance to drive a car. And not sure what the third ticket was. I think the point is being missed here, that he broke the law and should be expected to pay for that. He didn’t pay the tickets, and did not show up in court. So, not only did he BREAK THE LAW originally with 3 TICKETS, he BROKE THE LAW again, by NOT PAYING THEM, then BROKE THE LAW again by NOT SHOWING UP FOR COURT! It’s not a pay,pay,or jail. You are expected to obey the law like everyone else or pay the price. Is there a racial aspect to this?
Spot on! Glad to see someone using common sense!
Is this the same person that had to have the church to put up bail?
He is suing the city. That cost money and if you loose your case you also should have court cost. HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!
If you actually read the article, Arch City filed the suit.
When one is locked up for a period of time they get three squares and a hideout.
Gov’t is a business and profiting off the poor for their petty crimes is a big revenue generator. Many of these people receive entitlements, don’t work and are taking more from the public coffers than they are contributing in taxes. Obama’s America….
There is it is, its Obama’s fault, but don’t the new guy is raising taxes on the poor by 2% and decreasing the wealthy to 33%. Totally gonna fix this issue Uncle Jedd.
Contrary to the opinions voiced below, it is absolutely illegal to imprison someone for being unable to pay court fees or fines. This is affirmed in our Constitution, and over and over again in various Supreme Court rulings.
In light of the Dept. of Justice notice to courts in March warning that this practice is illegal, and offering grants for communities looking to revamp their current systems to come into compliance, Maplewood has made no effort (that I am aware of) to rectify their practices. To find out that this practice occurs here is disappointing, and brings bad publicity to the City. I hope the City (and incoming administration) leads the effort to improve our local justice system, and stop leaving us open to lawsuits such as this.
If you can’t pay a fine, you are not a criminal. Half of the households in Maplewood make below $3k/mo in gross pay. You neighbor is someone who needs to put food on the table, buy clothes to send their children to school, keep a roof over their head, and the heat turned on. How little respect we must have for human life, that we support a system that incarcerates our neighbors for their stature in life.
Here’s the thing. You aren’t imprisoning people for not paying fines. You are imprisoning them for committing a CRIME.
“The man said he was arrested for not paying several tickets and for not showing up to his court date.”
Why does being poor exempt someone from consequences for their actions?
I guess we can’t give poor people traffic tickets anymore? I guess we can’t give poor people DUIs because that costs money too. I guess we can’t expect poor people to show up to court either. that’s just too much to ask.
You absolutely are imprisoning them for not paying a fine. Last time I checked, you don’t get pulled over for speeding and go directly to jail. You are given a fine as penalty. That is the consequence for those infractions. Imprisoning someone for not paying a fine is exactly what is happening here.
No, they are imprisoning them for not showing up to a court date, which is a crime. I have always showed up to my court dates and payed my fines. If I didn’t I would expect the consequences. This is a bogus money grab by the plaintiffs. Follow the rules like the rest of us.
NOPE!
Adelina, where is it in our constitution? The reason I ask is that in 1822 due to someone’s debt my ancestor Joel Lee had guaranteed, he was imprisoned in jail at Newfane, VT, where he died on October 9, 1822. The legal authorities would not release the body until the family paid the money. It didn’t matter that it wasn’t originally his debt or that he was a Revolutionary War veteran. It’s been a long time since I looked at the records on this.
Gary Lee, this is very interesting. Reminds me of the debtor’s prisons in England.
Interesting history, Gary. To your question, in 1833 federal law abolished debtors prison. Most states have created some form of restriction since. Being jailed or not allowed access to court for inability to pay fines is protected under the fourteenth amendment, upheld various times in the 1970s, and more famously in 1983 by Bearded v. Georgia.
In a similar situation, the defendant was convicted it a crime, couldn’t pay their $500 debt, and was jailed. The court found that was illegal.
It sounds like in the Maplewood situation, not only is jailing for fines illegal, but the City also blocks access to a court hearing until after any outstanding debts are paid. Community service or a payment plan, seem like better options than jail. Betters society and saves the City the costs of housing and feeding individuals.
Thank you so much, Adelina. Your answer is very interesting and very helpful to me.
I know of a person as I have stated in the past that failed to appear on a speeding ticket. A year later the officer who ticketed the person saw the person driving and recognized the person pulled the person over and arrested the person. Took the person to the jail and awaited the van to take the person to the county. Booked the person, put the person in an orange jumpsuit took a mug shot locked the person in a cell then I could bail the person out with a new court date. This time the person made the court date and the fine and court cost was the same as the bail. This person was a first offender. Therefore, this man who has failed to appear should be arrested, failure to appear is a felony believe it or not. In the U.S. Navy they would call you a Sea Lawyer which is not very nice by the Navy standards.
Since moving to St. Louis from another state, I have personally never seen a mandatory summons for minor infractions. Not only does the city require you to pay a fine, but they require you to show up as well. Many people have jobs that don’t afford them the luxury to take time off and contest or even accept the consequences. More importantly, if you are found to be wrongly accused you still pay a court fee. It’s not right. What’s even more shocking are the comments about locking people up for not making a payment. Where do you think the money comes from to hold these people…it comes from taxpayers…truly sad.
How many tickets are you allowed before law enforcement says, “okay enough is enough.”
In this case several tickets here in Missouri means anything over four tickets. A couple of tickets is two, a few tickets are three or four.
Holy cow, this is the first time I have ever agreed with all the above statements. You ride the bus you pay the fare. I said fare because I don’t know how much it cost to ride the bus. It is a long story and if you want to hear my experience riding the bus to work let me know and I will give you a brief.
I agree with Josh and Attwood, it seems this person has a habit of disobeying the law. Laws don’t need to be changed because some people decide not to abide by them. He needs to take responsibility for his actions.
I agree lock him up , with the info given it sounds like it’s the only way he will ever pay for his crimes.
I’m going to have to declare one-sided reporting on this issue, as there is no comment from the city here or in the KMOV report. Granted, they are probably waiting for their day in court, but in the meantime, we are short on facts and long on accusations. I’m sensitive to this issue and am not a fan of the way the court systems operate around here, but some facts would be appreciated. It’s pretty standard for a court to issue a warrant after you miss a court date. And fines are routinely assessed in lieu of jail time. What were the original infractions? Were they driving 35 in a 30, or was it DUI, expired tags, reckless driving, etc? And how is Maplewood’s system racially biased in particular? Were they charged a fee to appear in court? Has an outside body judged our courts unfair, as has happened with other municipalities in the county? Are people sitting in Maplewood city jail right now serving time for unpaid traffic tickets? (I hope not.) What ArchCity does not include in their press release is that the requirement to post bond to cancel a warrant kicks in AFTER a court date (listen to the recording they link to; it’s right there). In other words, if you show up for court, you can deal with the warrant. If you miss your court date, then you have a problem and have to pay up. Yeah, it sucks. And maybe it should change, but their press release conveniently ignores this fact and uses it to mischaracterize the city’s position. This is a serious issue that warrants in-depth reporting with comments from both sides. Maplewood is run by generally level-headed professionals these days. If something is wrong, they usually try to fix it. I have not once gathered the impression that Maplewood officials have concocted a scheme to rip off and incarcerate black people on purpose. There is more to this story, and we’re not getting it.
I agree that fail to appear initiates a bench warrant. As far as being “focused on the poor”====don’t think so. The most relevant factor imo is whether this person is a recidivist and an habitual offender? This really was a one-sided statement, and best practices to not allow for commenting on pending litigation. My true reason for posting is i am thoroughly disgusted with high profile antagonism of FR’s for everything they do. Wait for the facts.
Arch City is a joke! Maplewood isn’t exploiting the poor but rather promoting a safer community. So what if Maplewood makes some money from this, they have to handle and process these fools, and if it acts as a deterrent to future illegal activity then all the better. I payed many fines for tickets when younger until i wised up and got tired of it. Everything isn’t a racial thing. Arch City is giving voice to a bunch of thugs for the most part. There are consequences to your actions. If you can’t do the time (or pay up) then don’t do the crime.
Totally agree. What’s the end game here? So poor people don’t have to face ANY consequences?
If you can’t pay the fine, then you have to pay it some other way. Maybe community service, or something beneficial to the community.
But jail seems perfectly appropriate here: “The man said he was arrested for not paying several tickets and for not showing up to his court date. ”
Are people insane? Don’t pay tickets and don’t show up to court, what on earth do you expect to happen?