The Justice Department is calling on state and local officials to stop incarcerating defendants who are unable to pay fines or fees, and say the practice is unfair to lower-income people in the justice system.
Vanita Gupta, the head of the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division, and Lisa Foster, director of the Office for Access to Justice, issued that warning in a letter sent to state court chief justices and administrators. That letter warned generally about using arrest warrants to collect money, and said that practice can end up putting poor people in jail when they can’t pay.
“In addition to being unlawful, to the extent that these practices are geared not toward addressing public safety, but rather toward raising revenue, they can cast doubt on the impartiality of the tribunal and erode trust between local governments and their constituents,” the letter reads.
When low-income defendants are unable to pay fines for misdemeanors or civil infractions or basic court fees, those individuals become trapped in “cycles of poverty,” Gupta and Foster wrote. “Individuals may confront escalating debt; face repeated, unnecessary incarceration for nonpayment despite posing no danger to the community; lose their jobs; and become trapped in cycles of poverty that can be nearly impossible to escape.”
The Justice Department also announced $2.5 million in grants through the Bureau of Justice Assistance to test strategies to restructure how fines and fees are enforced.
“The consequences of the criminalization of poverty are not only harmful — they are far-reaching,” Attorney General Loretta Lynch said in a statement. “They not only affect an individual’s ability to support their family, but also contribute to an erosion of our faith in government.”
In the letter, Gupta and Foster offer seven new principles that courts could follow, such as considering alternatives to jail time should a defendant be unable to pay.
The practice of jailing those unable to pay fines and fees has been thrust into the national spotlight during the federal probe into the Ferguson, Mo., justice system following the police shooting death of Michael Brown.
The probe found Ferguson officials used the fines and fees to increase revenue. Last month, Lynch announced federal officials would sue Ferguson to change the policy and justice systems.
