Ferguson Residents Challenge "Modern Debtors' Prison Scheme" Targeting Blacks with Fines, Arrests
February 10, 2015
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15:04Now PlayingFerguson Residents Challenge "Modern Debtors' Prison Scheme" Targeting Blacks with Fines, Arrests
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as posted by the channelMonday marked six months since a white police officer killed unarmed black teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. The shooting sparked protests over Brown's death and the broader racial divide it came to symbolize. Now, half a year later, a major legal action is taking that divide headon. On Sunday, more than a dozen St. Louisarea residents filed classaction lawsuits against Ferguson and another suburb, Jennings. The residents accuse local officials of creating a "modern debtors' prison scheme" that targets African Americans with arrests and fines and then locks them up when they cannot pay. A study last year by the ArchCity Defenders found a large part of the revenue for several St. Louis counties comes from fines paid by AfricanAmerican residents disproportionately targeted for traffic stops and other lowlevel offenses. In Ferguson, fines and fees were the city's secondlargest source of income in fiscal year 2014. Ferguson issued on average nearly three warrants per household last year the highest number of warrants in the state, relative to its size. We speak to MichaelJohn Voss, managing attorney at ArchCity Defenders, one of the groups that has filed a lawsuit against Ferguson and Jennings. We are also joined by Allison Nelson and Herbert Nelson Jr., two of the plaintiffs in the classaction lawsuits.
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