‘Jailhouse shakedown:’ ACLU sues Mississippi town that jails poor in debtor’s prison

‘A lawsuit from the American Civil Liberties Union accuses Biloxi, Mississippi of illegally arresting and jailing poor people without a hearing or representation by legal counsel. The three plaintiffs in the suit were arrested and jailed for failing to pay fines.

“It’s essentially a jailhouse shakedown. Cities across the country, like Biloxi, are scrambling to generate revenue, and they’re doing it off the backs of poor people,” said Nusrat Choudhury, an attorney with the the ACLU’s Racial Justice Program, in a press release.

The suit argues that the city, its police chief, judge, and the for-profit Judicial Correction Services company routinely arrest and jail poor people in an “illegal revenue generation scheme” designed to collect unpaid fines, fees, and court costs imposed in traffic and other misdemeanor cases. Judicial Correction Services is being used by the court as a debt collector, with the company creating payment plans for fined people without consulting them and then asking the court to issue warrants for them if the payments are not made.’

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