ACLU: Mississippi City Runs Debtors' Prison

By Mollie Bryant, The Clarion-Ledger

22 October 15

n increased reliance on revenue from court fees and traffic fines has led the city of Biloxi and a for-profit probation services company to run a “modern-day debtors’ prison,” according to a federal lawsuit filed Wednesday.

The American Civil Liberties Union alleges the city jails impoverished people for unpaid fees and court costs in a system that violates the fourth and 14th amendments.

The suit seeks damages on behalf of three plaintiffs who were arrested for not paying debts owed to the city. According to the suit, which was filed against the city, Police Chief John Miller, Municipal Court Judge James Steele and Judicial Correction Services Inc., none of the plaintiffs received a hearing or were informed of their right to an attorney before their arrests.

Biloxi Mayor Andrew “FoFo” Gilich would not comment on the suit, and city spokesman Vincent Creel said in an emailed statement that the city has not yet received it.

“However, based on media inquiries, we believe the ACLU is mistaken about the process in Biloxi, and we look forward to explaining it to the ACLU,” the statement said. “The city of Biloxi treats all defendants fairly under the law.”

If a person doesn’t pay court fees or other fines, the city often issues warrants for their arrest and charges them with contempt of court without holding a hearing before they’re jailed or determining their ability to pay, according to the suit. Unless they can pay the whole amount owed in full – and often in cash – at the time of the arrest, they are booked into jail.

The three plaintiffs, each of whom fall below the poverty line, were jailed for failing to pay fines without being informed that they had a right to be represented by an attorney, the suit alleges. They also weren’t told when they’d be released from jail or when they’d see a judge, it says..

According to the lawsuit, a person who can’t afford to pay what they owe can “sit out” their fines at a rate of $25 per day, a practice that the U.S. Court of Appeals outlawed decades ago.

During the whole process, defendants in Municipal Court don’t receive court-appointed attorneys, even if they are homeless or receive public assistance, court records claim. None of the three plaintiffs named in the suit was represented by a lawyer at any point after their arrest, leading up to their hearings or during the hearings themselves, according to the lawsuit.

For about six years, Biloxi has allowed for-profit companies - Judicial Corrections Services in the past and Court Programs Inc. currently - to collect fines and fees related to misdemeanors.

The companies place those who owe money to the city on payment plans. Part of each monthly fee goes toward the money owed to the city, but an additional $40 service fee goes straight to the company, court records claim.

That $40 fee is the companies’ main revenue source, because the city doesn’t pay them for their work, according to the lawsuit.

“It’s a perverse system that means poor people are ultimately required to pay more than people of means who can pay on time,” ACLU attorney Nusrat Choudhury said. “It also requires them to report to probation. Probation companies should really not be in the business of collecting debts from people, and if they are, they need to be sure it respects their constitutional rights, and that’s not the case in Biloxi.”

Creel said the court uses community service when defendants are unable to pay fines. However, in one case described in the lawsuit, a woman asked for community service several times, and a Court Programs Inc. worker, LeAnne Womble, told her it wouldn’t be an option until she’d been on probation for at least three months. Womble also said the woman would owe $20 per probation visit even if she received community service, the suit said.

Womble, the director of CPI’s Biloxi office,would not comment.

The lawsuit against Biloxi is the second filed against a Mississippi city this month over debtors’ prison allegations. Jackson faces a similar lawsuit that alleges the city jailed impoverished people, some for months, for nonpayment of fines and court costs without examining their ability to pay.