Justice department steps in against jailing practices that target poor people

Source: The Guardian

Justice department steps in against jailing practices that target poor people

The case of Maurice Walker in Georgia is a potentially precedent-
setting battle on when and how cities may continue to jail people
who can’t afford bail bonds

Jamiles Lartey
Wednesday 24 August 2016 17.19 BST

[font size=1]-snip-[/font]

Walker sued the city of Calhoun, Georgia, where he was detained, in a class action suit alleging that the city routinely “jails the poor because they cannot pay a small amount of money”.

Unlike in other similar lawsuits filed by Karakatsanis’ organization Equal Justice Under the Law, the city of Calhoun didn’t settle and agree to reforms.

Walker won his case. Then the city appealed the decision, elevating it to a federal appeals court and setting up a potentially precedent-setting legal battle on the question of when and how cities may continue to jail people for being poor.

[font size=1]-snip-[/font]

And then, the US justice department intervened to say it was on Walker’s side.

“Incarcerating individuals solely because of their inability to pay a fine or fee ... effectively denies equal protection to one class of people within the criminal justice system while also offending due process,” the DoJ said in a a filing to the court.

[font size=1]-snip-[/font]

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/aug/24/justice-department-jail-bond-case-georgia-maurice-walker