Justice Department: Stop criminalizing poverty

The Justice Department is calling on state and local officials to stop incarcerating defendants who are unable to pay fines or fees, and say the practice is unfair to lower-income people in the justice system.

Vanita Gupta, the head of the DOJ's Civil Rights Division, and Lisa Foster, director of the Office for Access to Justice, issued that warning in a letter sent to state court chief justices and administrators. That letter warned generally about using arrest warrants to collect money, and said that practice can end up putting poor people in jail when they can't pay.

"In addition to being unlawful, to the extent that these practices are geared not toward addressing public safety, but rather toward raising revenue, they can cast doubt on the impartiality of the tribunal and erode trust between local governments and their constituents," the letter reads.

When low-income defendants are unable to pay fines for misdemeanors or civil infractions or basic court fees, those individuals become trapped in "cycles of poverty," Gupta and Foster wrote. "Individuals may confront escalating debt; face repeated, unnecessary incarceration for nonpayment despite posing no danger to the community; lose their jobs; and become trapped in cycles of poverty that can be nearly impossible to escape."

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