Many Jails Are Illegal Debtors' Prisons

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Many Jails Are Illegal Debtors' Prisons

Thursday, 17 September 2015 10:03
By Mike Ludwig, Truthout | Report


Amanda Underwood is a mother of five who works at a fast-food restaurant in Alexander City, Alabama. She recently borrowed her friend's car to pick up food for her friend's children and received a traffic ticket for driving with a suspended license. Underwood is already having trouble making ends meet, and if she cannot afford to pay off the ticket, she may once again end up washing police cars to earn her way out of jail and back to her job and family.

In Alexander City, where nearly 30 percent of the city's 15,000 residents live below the poverty line, people who receive a fine for traffic violations and misdemeanors in court are told by the judge to go to the "back room" behind the judge's bench. In the back room, which is not open to public, they must pay the fine in full before the end of business hours, or they are booked into the jail located in another part of the same building, according to a federal complaint filed by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) on September 8.

Underwood found herself in the back room after pleading guilty to a traffic violation on April 24, 2014. The father of her two youngest children was there too, for he also owed money to the court. Both were arrested and jailed for failing to pay fines and fees amounting to a combined $650. It was their son's second birthday and no one was around to watch the kids, so Underwood became desperate. Luckily, her ex-husband lent them the money, and they were released later that day.

Underwood returned to court with another traffic ticket in June. She was out of a job and had no money to pay the $230 fine, so she went to jail, where each day spent behind bars earned her $20 toward the fine. She earned an extra $20 each day washing police cars and cleaning cells and a break room used by police officers. She was released after five days.

"People are afraid to go to court because they know that they don't have the money to pay their fines," Underwood said in a statement. "They know that they will be locked up away from their family and kids. This shouldn't be happening in America." ...........................(more)

http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/32832-many-jails-are-illegal-debtors-prisons