Cash-strapped and incarcerated: The modern debtor’s prison

[Geee]

The Hill:

Earlier this year Robin Clearey of Houston appeared before Magistrate Joe Licata on a misdemeanor charge for driving with an invalid license and Mr. Licata told her she would continue to be arrested on this charge if she did not pay the $3,500 fine.

 

Clearey told the judge it is “nothing to me.” Nothing, because she is always in and out of jail for such charges, and Licata responded by saying it is “nothing to me – job security.”

 

 

The exchange, which was released as a part of a November 2016 report which also contained video of similar proceedings, did not reflect well on either of them, but it is only Licata who represents the government and therefore all of us. In such moments of candor, truth is often revealed. Indeed, some 10 million Americans owe more than $50 billion in criminal justice debt.

 

With countless people being jailed simply because they cannot afford to pay fines and fees, there is a growing need to overhaul current policy and practice to ensure the financial obligations imposed by the criminal justice system are proportionate.