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As in Ferguson, California’s Poor Subject to Unfair Fines, Fees
http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2015/04/08/california-poor-subject-to-fines-fees-like-in-ferguson-says-reportMaybe California isn’t so far from Ferguson, Missouri, after all.
A scathing report released by a civil rights group today says the Golden State’s structure of spiraling court fees and fines — which tend to disproportionately affect poor Californians — are “chillingly similar” to practices in Ferguson recently slammed by federal justice officials.
The report, by the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights in San Francisco, concludes that “a litany of practices and policies in California turn a citation offense into a poverty sentence.” The group found that more than 4 million Californians have lost their driver’s licenses because they failed to appear in court or pay a citation — some of which have nothing to do with driving at all.
“This has created a major barrier to employment for folks,” said Lawyers’ Committee attorney Meredith Desautels. “When someone’s license is suspended as a result of them not being able to pay a fine, it becomes a poverty trap — they can’t get a job because they can’t pay their fine, and they can’t pay their fine because their license is suspended.”
A scathing report released by a civil rights group today says the Golden State’s structure of spiraling court fees and fines — which tend to disproportionately affect poor Californians — are “chillingly similar” to practices in Ferguson recently slammed by federal justice officials.
The report, by the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights in San Francisco, concludes that “a litany of practices and policies in California turn a citation offense into a poverty sentence.” The group found that more than 4 million Californians have lost their driver’s licenses because they failed to appear in court or pay a citation — some of which have nothing to do with driving at all.
“This has created a major barrier to employment for folks,” said Lawyers’ Committee attorney Meredith Desautels. “When someone’s license is suspended as a result of them not being able to pay a fine, it becomes a poverty trap — they can’t get a job because they can’t pay their fine, and they can’t pay their fine because their license is suspended.”
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