More Reports Of Debtors Prisons Surface In Louisiana And New Hampshire
Plaintiffs stated judges used some of these funds to pay for private insurance benefits for themselves and their spouses that are not provided by the state.
By Brian Sonenstein
MintPressNews.com
September 26, 2015
A federal lawsuit in New Orleans, Louisiana, and a report by the ACLU of New Hampshire, document the practice of jailing people unable to pay their court debts, violating the due process rights of the poor by failing to provide them with legal counsel and ability-to-pay hearings.
New Orleans
In New Orleans, a class action lawsuit was brought this month by five people charging the government with levying fines and court fees against poor residents without first assessing their ability to pay. According to Courthouse News, “An estimated 104,900 people, or more than a quarter of the population, [live] below the poverty line” in New Orleans. Half of all adult black men in the city are unemployed and receive no unemployment compensation.
In one case, officers in tactical gear allegedly stormed a family’s home to collect court debt:
In another case, plaintiff Reynaud Variste claims his family’s home was stormed by officers armed with assault rifles and military gear because he failed to pay $1,600 court fees. Variste says he was asleep at the time of the raid and was awakened by the commotion. However, he says, he was told not to worry too much about the raid because it was just over unpaid fees.
The Rest…HERE
