• Home
  • News  
    • Back
    • News Main
    • Mississippi Edition
    • @ISSUE
    • Submit a Story
    • NEWS TOPICS

      LATEST MISSISSIPPI BUSINESS SCIENCE EDUCATION HEALTH POLITICS LEGISLATURE SPORTS TECHNOLOGY WEATHER ARTS
  • Television
    • Back
    • Television Main
    • TV Schedules
    • Watch Now
    • PBS KIDS 24/7 Live
    • Stations
    • PROGRAM CATEGORIES

      MPB TV MPB Radio Think Radio Music Radio MPB TV Kids News Music Call-In Travel Food History Science
  • Radio
    • Back
    • Radio Main
    • Think Radio Schedule
    • Music Radio Schedule
    • Listen Online
    • Think Radio
    • Music Radio
    • Radio Reading Service
    • PROGRAM CATEGORIES

      MPB TV MPB Radio Think Radio Music Radio MPB TV Kids News Music Call-In Travel Food History Science
  • Education  
    • Back
    • Education Main
    • Educators
    • Parents
    • Kids
    • Ed Said
    • e-Learning for Educators
    • MIVN
    • Getting to Work
    • Between the Lions
  • More  
    • Back
    • About
    • Press Room
    • Legal
    • Careers
    • Mailing List
    • Events Calendar
    • Underwriting
    • Members
    • Support MPB
    • About
    • Contact
    • MPB Kids
    • Legal
    • Mailing List
    • Listen Live
    • Support MPB
    • Employee Login

    NEWS TOPICS

    LATEST MISSISSIPPI BUSINESS SCIENCE EDUCATION HEALTH POLITICS LEGISLATURE SPORTS TECHNOLOGY WEATHER ARTS

    PROGRAM CATEGORIES

    MPB Think Radio Music Radio MPB TV Kids News Music Call-In Travel Food History Science
Contact Kids Watch Now Listen Live Passport
Support
  • News

    News Links

    • News Main
    • Submit a Story
    • Mississippi Edition
    • @ISSUE

    Topics

    LATEST MISSISSIPPI BUSINESS SCIENCE EDUCATION HEALTH POLITICS LEGISLATURE SPORTS TECHNOLOGY WEATHER ARTS

    Latest News

    Mississippi Edition

  • Television

    About

    • Television Programs
    • TV Schedules
    • PBS KIDS 24/7 Schedule
    • Create

    Where To Watch

    • PBS
    • Watch Now
    • PBS KIDS 24/7 Live
    • Stations

    Top Local Programs

    • Amped And Wired
    • Conversations
    • Fit to Eat
    • Farm Week
    • Mississippi Outdoors
    • Mississippi Roads
    • Palate To Palette
    • Southern Remedy

    From Our Blogs

  • Radio

    About

    • Radio Programs
    • Think Radio Schedule
    • Music Radio Schedule
    • Listen Online
    • Podcasts
    • NPR

    MPB Radio Stations

    • Think Radio
    • Music Radio
    • Radio Reading Service

    Latest Episodes

    Top Local Programs

    • Creature Comforts
    • Deep South Dining
    • Everyday Tech
    • Fix It 101
    • The Gestalt Gardener
    • In Legal Terms
    • Money Talks
    • Next Stop Mississippi
    • Now You're Talking With Marshall Ramsey
    • MPB's Season Pass
    • Southern Remedy
    • AUto Correct
  • Education

    MPB Education

    • Education Main
    • Educators
    • Parents
    • Kids Club
    • Ed Said
    • PBS KIDS

    Initiatives

    • Getting to Work
    • Between the Lions
    • Ready To Learn

    Latest Blog Posts

    Educators

    • e-Learning for Educators
    • MIVN
    • Curricula >
    • PBS LearningMedia >
  • More

    About

    • About MPB
    • Pressroom
    • Legal
    • Careers
    • Events Calendar
    • Support
    • Passport
    • Underwriting
    • Contact

    Around MPB

    Latest Press

Share on FacebookTweet this postShare by Email

Lawsuits Accuse Mississippi Cities of Operating Modern Day Debtors' Prisons

Last Updated by Desare Frazier on
Qumotria Kennedy, D'Iberville, Plaintiff in Biloxi Lawsuit
Courtesy:NPR

 

It's the sound that can make a driver cringe--a traffic stop by a police officer. Qumotria Kennedy of D'iberville, recalls when she was pulled over in Biloxi in 2013. She says the officer gave her three tickets: driving without a license, failure to stop at a stop sign and no insurance. They totaled $1,200. 

"That hurts because now I have bills to pay. I have tickets to pay. I was afraid because I didn't know how I was going to be able to get the money to pay for them," said Kennedy.

Kennedy says a Biloxi Municipal Court Judge put her on probation for one year with a for-profit company called Judicial Corrections Services. JCS collected payments for unpaid fines and fees  for traffic and misdemeanor cases under a contract with the city. The  36-year old mother of two says she was laid off from her part-time job before she was to meet with the JCS probation officer. 

"So, she told me well um, I need to hurry up and find a job. If I can't find a job, I will be going to jail," said Kennedy.

Police arrested her in July of this year on a "Failure to Pay" warrant. Kennedy says she spent five days in jail without being advised of her rights or knowing when she was scheduled for a hearing. Attorney Nusrat Choudhury, with the American Civil Liberties Union in New York, says cash-strapped cities across the country are arresting people who can't afford to pay their fines. But that's against the law.   lifeinthegump.comHarrison Co. Detention Center, Biloxi lifeinthegump.com  

"Judges are required to inform people of their right to a hearing and to hold a hearing where they assess whether the non-payment was willful or the result of poverty, and to look into whether alternatives to incarceration exist," said Choudhury

Choudhury filed a lawsuit claiming Biloxi is operating a modern day Debtor's Prison, by routinely arresting poor residents to generate revenue. She found Biloxi police arrested more than 400 people last year with no pre-jail hearing to determine their ability to pay. Choudhury says Judicial Correction Services made its money by collecting a $40 monthly supervision fee, in addition to the fines, further putting people in a financial hole. Vincent Creel is a spokesperson for Biloxi.

"Since this is a pending lawsuit, we're limited in what we can say. But we do want to say that in municipal court, we have always strived to protect the rights of all defendants," said Creel.

Kennedy daughter ms-debtors-prison.jpgKennedy with daughter in D'iberville Courtesy:NPR

The City of Jackson is in a legal battle over it's "Stay or Pay policy."  Attorneys with Equal Justice Under Law, in Washington, DC and the MacArthur Justice Center at the University of Mississippi School of Law, are accusing the city of operating a Debtor's Prison. Jackson doesn't use a probation company. But the city does have a collection agency pursue unpaid fines from those who've had warrants issued for their arrest. The lawsuit claims the city is jailing indigent people without assessing their ability to pay. Attorney Cliff Johnson is with the MacArthur Justice Center. 

Debt Ticket graphic Desare 2b.jpg

"We have plaintiffs, Desare, who have served weeks in jail at the work farm because they couldn't come up with the money that the judge said they had to come up with," said Johnson.

"I had no go to court. It's like pay or stay. If you've got this money or you know, you go to jail," 

That's Darius McCallum of Jackson. He's not named in the lawsuit, but says an officer gave him two tickets during a traffic stop for no insurance and an expired car tag that came to $1,200. McCallum says he couldn't pay the fines and was later arrested. He says he worked off his debt at the Raymond Detention Center Penal Farm, at a rate of $58.00 per day. Mayor Tony Yarber says they have a hard time collecting fines--people take tickets more seriously in the surrounding cities because Jackson doesn't have a jail. 

Debt Jail Transport IMG_3707.JPGCity of Jackson Police Department and Municipal Courts

"Because they understand that in the City of Jackson, we don't have anywhere to take you. There's no where to take you. We don't have a standard holding facility that allows us to hold you over three hours. There is no room in the Raymond jail. Everybody knows that," said Yarber. 

Gene Newman owns Mississippi Bail Bonding Company and says he's been in and out of courtrooms for almost 40 years. He understands the struggles cities face to collect unpaid fines and fees. Newman says it's not a money issue for some. He believes they just don't care.

"And I see this everyday, day in and day out, in all the courts. They're given multiple occasions to pay. If people can't pay and they're trying to, the judges will work with them," said Newman.

The City of Newton has tried to work with people who owe fines. Mayor David Carr.

"Somebody had a fine of $200 or $300 or $400 or $500. They come to the court they don't have any money on them or they've got $20. We take them in the back. They pay $20. They sign a promissory note for the rest of it, that they're going to come back and they never do," said Carr.

Carr's aware of the lawsuits against Jackson and Biloxi. Still, he recently signed a contract with a probation company to help Newton collect $400,000 in accumulated unpaid fines. But he says they rarely jail anyone, because it cost them $30 a day. MacArthur Justice Center Attorney Cliff Johnson says, debtor's prison is a moral issue. 

"We're sending people to jail ultimately because they're poor and in Mississippi, the poorest state in the country, that puts a lot of people at risk," said Johnson.

ACLU attorneys in Jackson are investigating complaints in other cities, including Sardis, Tupelo and Yazoo City.

"https://www.youtube.com/embed/aa_U4gZd0jQ"

previous post

New study suggests UMMC could be run more efficiently

next post

Mississippians Warned To Check Their Charity

News

Find out more about MPB's Getting to Work Program.

Find Out More

Connect

Follow Like Watch Subscribe Photos

Learn More

  • About
  • Pressroom
  • Contact
  • Directions
  • Careers
  • Underwriting

Support

  • Support MPB
  • MPB Car Tag
  • Car Donation
  • Passport
  • Members Portal

Legal

  • Legal Main
  • Public Files And Reports
  • Privacy Policy
  • Open Meetings Announcements
  • Transparency Mississippi
  • MPB Contest Rules

Employees

  • Email Login
  • State Personnel Board
  • MS.gov
  • ACE

Connect

  • Follow Us on Twitter
  • Like Our Facebook Page
  • Subscribe to Our YouTube Channel
  • Subscribe to Our RSS Feed
  • Subscribe to Our Podcast
  • See Our Photos on Flickr
FCC Public Files

TELEVISION STATIONS

  • WMAE-TV
  • WMAV-TV
  • WMAO-TV
  • WMAB-TV
  • WMPN-TV
  • WMAW-TV
  • WAMU-TV
  • WMAH-TV

RADIO STATIONS

  • WMAO-FM
  • WMAU-FM
  • WMAW-FM
  • WMAE-FM
  • WMAH-FM
  • WMAB-FM
  • WMAV-FM
  • WMPN-FM

OTHER

  • Transparency Mississippi
  • Public Files And Reports

© Mississippi Authority for Educational Television d/b/a Mississippi Public Broadcasting - All Rights Reserved.
MPB is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

MPB

Mississippi Public Broadcasting

3825 Ridgewood Road
Jackson, Mississippi 39211

601.432.6565