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Thursday, May 22, 2014

As Court Fees Rise, The Poor Are Paying The Price

In Augusta, Ga., a judge sentenced Tom Barrett to 12 months after he stole a can of beer worth less than $2.

In Ionia, Mich., 19-year-old Kyle Dewitt caught a fish out of season; then a judge sentenced him to three days in jail.

In Grand Rapids, Mich., Stephen Papa, a homeless Iraq War veteran, spent 22 days in jail, not for what he calls his "embarrassing behavior" after he got drunk with friends and climbed into an abandoned building, but because he had only $25 the day he went to court.

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1 comment:

Anonymous said...

"Guilty AND Charged" a week long expose on NPR - Charge room &board for your prison cell. Charged for your public defender & for application for public defender ... People are being put into prison for their inability to pay fines for offenses that do not any jail time required - IN effect "Debtors Prison" which was outlawed nationally in the late 1800's Sadly a good majority are homeless vet -