from the Southern Poverty Law Center:

[elleng]

Last edited Wed Aug 27, 2014, 11:14 PM - Edit history (1)

Our client Harriet Cleveland was thrown in jail for the “crime” of being poor.

I know it’s hard to believe, but cities across America are reviving debtors’ prisons for people like Ms. Cleveland who can’t pay traffic tickets or minor court fines.

It’s a despicable practice that reverses more than a century of progress.

But it’s just one of the many ways the poor are being punished in our country. Fifty years after President Johnson declared a war on poverty, our country is waging war on the poor.

With your support, we got Ms. Cleveland out of jail. And, today we announced that our lawsuit has lead to an agreement with the city of Montgomery, Alabama – one that will close the city’s debtors’ prison and ensure no one else has to go through the horror she experienced.

Here’s what happened: When Ms. Cleveland couldn’t pay her traffic fines, a judge put her in the hands of a private probation company that squeezed monthly fees from her – profits for the company – as she tried desperately to pay off the debt.

Finally, when she simply had nothing more to give, a police officer came to arrest her as she was babysitting her grandson.

Ms. Cleveland cried tears of joy when she found out about our settlement.

Thanks to our efforts and your dedicated support, this is a victory for low-income people everywhere. It sends a message to cities across the nation: Stop ignoring the rights of the poor.

Fighting the injustices heaped on the most vulnerable among us – people like Ms. Cleveland – is why we started the SPLC so many years ago.

Today, as our nation turns its back on the poor, our work is needed more than ever.

Thank you for standing with us to help those who have no other champion. It’s your support that makes it possible.

Sincerely

Sincerely,

Morris Dees
Founder, Southern Poverty Law Center

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To donate: https://donate.splcenter.org/sslpage.aspx?pid=463

[sheshe2]

1. Thank you, ellen.

And to the Southern Poverty Law Center.

[freshwest]

2. Thank you, Morris Dees, for all you do.

[Scuba]

3. I thought they were gonna decleare the Republican Party a hate group.

[daleanime]

4. K&R....

[OldRedneck]

5. Read this book . . . nothing has changed in the South

READ THIS BOOK. NOW.

"Slavery by Another Name: The Re-Enslavement of Black Americans from the Civil War to World War Two"


There's also a PBS production of the book:
http://www.pbs.org/tpt/slavery-by-another-name/

http://video.pbs.org/program/slavery-another-name/

Nothing has changed. And you thought the 13th Amendment abolished slavery. No. Didn't change a thing.

[meow2u3]

6. Link to article

http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/news/splc-lawsuit-closes-debtors-prison-in-alabama-capital

[elleng]

9. Thanks

[L0oniX]

7. K & R

[kairos12]

8. Thank You Morris Dees

[Iwillnevergiveup]

10. The SPLC

does excellent work and mails out an unbelievably good newsletter several times a year. It needs and deserves our financial support.

K7r

[elleng]

11. Yes it does.

My Dad supported it for many years, and I now do so.

https://donate.splcenter.org/sslpage.aspx?pid=463

[Jefferson23]

12. War on the poor. K&R