ACLU attorney: Biloxi is 'generating revenue off the backs of the poor'

[GMDino]

I totally agree people should pay their fines if convicted or if they choose not to fight the ticket. But I thought debtor prisons were illegal? Or is there some loophole they are using here?

Either way I never understood the concept of putting people in prison where they have no hope of getting the money to pay fine because they did not have the money to pay a fine.


http://www.wlox.com/story/30321476/aclu-attorney-biloxi-is-generating-revenue-off-the-backs-of-the-poor

Quote:BILOXI, MS (WLOX) -
The America Civil Liberties Union filed a 73-page class-action lawsuit in federal court Wednesday, accusing the City of Biloxi of operating a modern-day debtor’s prison.

The suit was on behalf of three plaintiffs who, the ACLU says, were arrested and jailed based on their inability to pay fines — a Constitutional violation.

Joseph Anderson of Biloxi, Qumotria Kennedy of D'Iberville and Richard Tillery are indigent, according to the lawsuit.

The lead attorney in the case, Nusrat Choudhury of New York, says the ACLU has been investigating debtor's prison cases in Mississippi for at least a year. The lawsuit against Biloxi is the third in the country.

Choudhury says of particular concern in the Biloxi case is the dramatic way in which her clients were arrested.

“The fact that they were jailed when sitting in their homes, at traffic stops on warrants and through a procedure in which they were taken straight to jail; booked in jail at the police station and taken to the jail itself and basically told that if they didn’t pay in full and in cash the entire amount of the traffic tickets and other fines they owed that they would be jailed," noted Choudhury.

As a result, Choudhury said Kennedy, a 36-year-old mother of two teenagers, was fired from her part-time job while in jail.

Anderson was at home when police arrested him on a warrant, charging him with failure to pay a traffic fine.


“Being poor is not a crime,” Choudhury said. “Yet, cities across the country, like Biloxi, appear to be generating revenue off the backs of the poor. This lawsuit seeks to dismantle a two-tiered system of justice that punishes the poorest more harshly than those with means.”

The defendants named in the case include the City of Biloxi, Police Chief John Miller, City Judge James Steele and Judicial Correction Services, the private company contracted to collect fines.

Biloxi spokesperson Vincent Creel issued the following statement:

“The city of Biloxi has not yet been served with the lawsuit. ... We believe the ACLU is mistaken about the process in Biloxi, and we look forward to explaining it to the ACLU. The city of Biloxi treats all defendants fairly under the law. In fact, the court has used community service in cases where defendants are unable to pay their fines.”

To view the lawsuit, click here: http://ftpcontent4.worldnow.com/wlox/BiloxiSuit.pdf

[mallorian69]

What would you have them do, let people break the law with no consequences? "Since you are to poor to pay the fine just go ahead and keep breaking the law and we won't do anything to you."

[GMDino]

(10-22-2015, 09:52 AM)mallorian69 Wrote: What would you have them do, let people break the law with no consequences? "Since you are to poor to pay the fine just go ahead and keep breaking the law and we won't do anything to you."

Community service?

Work out a payment plan?

Anything other than arrest them and make it so they can never pay their fine?

[GodHatesBengals]

(10-22-2015, 09:54 AM)GMDino Wrote: Community service?

Work out a payment plan?

Anything other than arrest them and make it so they can never pay their fine?

Preposterous!

We need to be fiscally conservative enough to spend money on keeping them in jail and never give them an opportunity to pay back the cost of their crimes!

[GMDino]

(10-22-2015, 10:06 AM)GodHatesBengals Wrote: Preposterous!

We need to be fiscally conservative enough to spend money on keeping them in jail and never give them an opportunity to pay back the cost of their crimes!

[Ryuko]

(10-22-2015, 10:06 AM)GodHatesBengals Wrote: Preposterous!

We need to be fiscally conservative enough to spend money on keeping them in jail and never give them an opportunity to pay back the cost of their crimes!

It'd be nice if prisons were made to be self-sufficient. Y'know, where prisoners actually did supervised manual labor for the state, such as running farms, digging irrigation, mending roads, etc. But then again, requiring people to be outdoors and away from cable television seems to cause outcries of "cruel and unusual" in today's world.

You used to "pay your debt to society" in prison. Now you just sit around and wait to be somebody's prison-wife.

[Sociopathicsteelerfan]

(10-22-2015, 09:54 AM)GMDino Wrote: Community service?

Work out a payment plan?

Anything other than arrest them and make it so they can never pay their fine?

Pretty much this.  The activity in OP is completely illegal in CA.  Here you have the option to serve jail time in lieu of paying a fine but you cannot be forced to do so.  But, we are talking about the deep south here so I'm not shocked at all.

[SteelCitySouth]

(10-22-2015, 10:40 AM)Ryuko Wrote: It'd be nice if prisons were made to be self-sufficient. Y'know, where prisoners actually did supervised manual labor for the state, such as running farms, digging irrigation, mending roads, etc. But then again, requiring people to be outdoors and away from cable television seems to cause outcries of "cruel and unusual" in today's world.

You used to "pay your debt to society" in prison. Now you just sit around and wait to be somebody's prison-wife.

You really think all of those highlighted proposals are not happening because of "cruel and unusual" punishment?  Dude if this is what you think.....

I'm going to start you on your way towards enlightenment.  Finish this statement.

If roads were built by prisoners as free labor.....then?

[Sociopathicsteelerfan]

(10-22-2015, 10:49 AM)SteelCitySouth Wrote: You really think all of those highlighted proposals are not happening because of "cruel and unusual" punishment?  Dude if this is what you think.....

I'm going to start you on your way towards enlightenment.  Finish this statement.

If roads were built by prisoners as free labor.....then?

I get rich?

[Ryuko]

(10-22-2015, 10:49 AM)SteelCitySouth Wrote: You really think all of those highlighted proposals are not happening because of "cruel and unusual" punishment?  Dude if this is what you think.....

I'm going to start you on your way towards enlightenment.  Finish this statement.

If roads were built by prisoners as free labor.....then?

You're working your way towards a slavery argument, I suppose?

Which in your mind is somehow different from cruel and unusual punishment?

Nice try.

[GodHatesBengals]

(10-22-2015, 10:49 AM)SteelCitySouth Wrote: You really think all of those highlighted proposals are not happening because of "cruel and unusual" punishment?  Dude if this is what you think.....

I'm going to start you on your way towards enlightenment.  Finish this statement.

If roads were built by prisoners as free labor.....then?

Then they'll probably whine as much as those dark-skinned people did when they became ungrateful for being taken from Africa!

But he's right: prisons never, ever require labor from prisoners anymore. Hell, everyone in America is lazy except him!

[Ryuko]

(10-22-2015, 11:02 AM)GodHatesBengals Wrote: Then they'll probably whine as much as those dark-skinned people did when they became ungrateful for being taken from Africa!

But he's right: prisons never, ever require labor from prisoners anymore. Hell, everyone in America is lazy except him!

Yeah, us law-abiding citizens get all the breaks. 

P.S. I was sworn into the Navy in 2007, and have been in ever since. What's your resume of hard work?

[Sociopathicsteelerfan]

(10-22-2015, 11:01 AM)Ryuko Wrote: You're working your way towards a slavery argument, I suppose?

Which in your mind is somehow different from cruel and unusual punishment?

Nice try.

Or, just maybe, the pool of free labor takes away paying jobs from non-criminals?  Guess what, prisoners do work right now, they just don't do jobs that would replace an actual citizen.

[SteelCitySouth]

(10-22-2015, 11:01 AM)Ryuko Wrote: You're working your way towards a slavery argument, I suppose?

Which in your mind is somehow different from cruel and unusual punishment?

Nice try.

Not at all...Have you never heard of lobbyist?  Nice try though...

[SteelCitySouth]

(10-22-2015, 11:07 AM)Sociopathicsteelerfan Wrote: Or, just maybe, the pool of free labor takes away paying jobs from non-criminals?  Guess what, prisoners do work right now, they just don't do jobs that would replace an actual citizen.

DING DING DING DING!!!

[Ryuko]

(10-22-2015, 11:07 AM)Sociopathicsteelerfan Wrote: Or, just maybe, the pool of free labor takes away paying jobs from non-criminals?  Guess what, prisoners do work right now, they just don't do jobs that would replace an actual citizen.

Right, so they don't take the jobs of law-abiding citizens... They just take their tax dollars. My point is that prisons should be at least self-sufficient, and they aren't. The "any work they do takes jobs away from someone else" is advocating for laziness like I've never seen. Every job anyone does is a job that someone else could be doing. But doing work and gaining experience gives them a better chance to succeed once they get out.

[GodHatesBengals]

(10-22-2015, 11:15 AM)Ryuko Wrote: Right, so they don't take the jobs of law-abiding citizens... They just take their tax dollars. My point is that prisons should be at least self-sufficient, and they aren't. The "any work they do takes jobs away from someone else" is advocating for laziness like I've never seen. Every job anyone does is a job that someone else could be doing. But doing work and gaining experience gives them a better chance to succeed once they get out.

So in other words, you didn't bother clicking the link in my post because reading the reality of penal labor in the U.S. would totally demolish everything you're saying.

I empathize with your struggle. Reality makes it really difficult to go on the self-aggrandizing rants you require for validation, doesn't it?

[GodHatesBengals]

(10-22-2015, 11:21 AM)Ryuko Wrote: You missed the point. I work equally as hard as my brothers-in-arms, as well as millions of other Americans... Not including those who go outside the law and wind up in jail as a result.

My post wasn't about lifting myself up. It was about lifting my team. We all bust our asses on a daily basis. I was addressing your "except you" bullshit.

Yes. So your only sense of self-worth is in believing you work more than all the people you don't like, even people who work without pay.
 
Thanks for clarifying.

[SteelCitySouth]

(10-22-2015, 11:15 AM)Ryuko Wrote: Right, so they don't take the jobs of law-abiding citizens... They just take their tax dollars. My point is that prisons should be at least self-sufficient, and they aren't. The "any work they do takes jobs away from someone else" is advocating for laziness like I've never seen. Every job anyone does is a job that someone else could be doing. But doing work and gaining experience gives them a better chance to succeed once they get out.

Let's bring this back to your post and stop with the "any" comments.  Your post was talking about building roads etc.  You want to make them self sufficient that is fine.  What I was pointing out was your misunderstanding of why they don't do these jobs.  They don't do them because those job areas have strong organized lobbies that work the government for those lucrative contracts.  Not and I stress..."NOT because they don't want to get outside and away from cable tv.

[Rotobeast]

(10-22-2015, 07:59 AM)GMDino Wrote: I totally agree people should pay their fines if convicted or if they choose not to fight the ticket.  But I thought debtor prisons were illegal?  Or is there some loophole they are using here?

Either way I never understood the concept of putting people in prison where they have no hope of getting the money to pay fine because they did not have the money to pay a fine.


http://www.wlox.com/story/30321476/aclu-attorney-biloxi-is-generating-revenue-off-the-backs-of-the-poor

Sooooooo...... are they going to champion for all the dead-beat dads sitting in jail for failure to pay child support ? It would seem the same situation, to me.