13 Missouri Cities Accused of Running Discriminatory Debtors’ Prison

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Thirteen cities in St. Louis County, Mo., are accused in a new proposed class action lawsuit of creating a debtors’ prison by jailing poor people who can’t afford to pay their court fines.

The federal lawsuit accuses 13 suburban cities in north St. Louis County of creating “debtors prisons” by targeting poor black residents with traffic violations – a practice that contributed to the tension that boiled over in Ferguson two years ago after a police officer fatally shot 18-year-old Michael Brown.

In fact, civil rights legal group ArchCity Defenders filed the proposed class action lawsuit last Tuesday, on the two-year anniversary of Michael Brown’s death.

The 13 cities in the debtors’ prison lawsuit are: Bel-Ridge, Bellefontaine Neighbors, Beverly Hills, Calverton Park, Cool Valley, Edmundson, Normandy, Pagedale, St. Ann, St. John, Velda City, Velda Village Hills and Wellston.

The lawsuit states the city of St. Ann acts as a hub to jail people with warrants from the 12 other named communities.

Specifically, the lawsuit accuses these cities of “terrorizing” plaintiffs and “many hundreds of others through a deliberate and coordinated scheme established and implemented to fill the municipalities’ coffers by extorting money from poor —  disproportionately African-American — people in the St. Louis region, creating a modern-day police state and debtors’ prison scheme that has no place in American society today.”

Plaintiffs in the case, who range in age from 24 to 65, say they were put in jail after being unable to make payments towards fines and other legal charges.

Lead plaintiff Quinton Thomas said this happened to him. Thomas, a union concrete finisher, said unpaid fines from minor driving-related offenses like running a stop sign, lacking proof of insurance, and improper vehicle registration led to several arrests and jail sentences, costing him two jobs and a car.

“Plaintiffs are a group of similarly situated individuals who are victims of the Defendants’ predatory scheme,” the lawsuit reads. “Each of these individuals was locked in a cage by or on behalf of one or more of the 13 municipalities named as Defendants in this lawsuit… solely because he or she was unable to afford a cash payment.”

The 79-page complaint further alleges that municipalities have abused, manipulated and extorted the poor and disproportionately African-American people through “over-policing” arbitrary penalties and fines, and a lack of due process.

Inmates incarcerated by St. Ann, the debtors’ prison lawsuit alleges, are held under horrific conditions that include overcrowded cells, “reused” blankets, “disgusting and unsanitary” mattresses, and “unhealthy and nearly inedible” food.

Inmates were not allowed to shower until they had been held at the jail for a week, the lawsuit says, and trash piles in cells gave off a “very pungent odor.”

By imprisoning those who can’t afford to pay fines, the municipalities have violated rights of due process and equal protection guaranteed under the 14th Amendment, the lawsuit says.

The lawsuit also alleges violations of the Fourth Amendment because the municipalities issued warrants without probable cause, as well as violations for the Sixth Amendment due to failure to provide for effective assistance of counsel.

According to the lawsuit, the defendant cities issued 1.7 arrest warrants per household in their municipalities, largely for unpaid debts from traffic citations.

It added that the cities made more than $76 million from their court systems over the last five years, with some of them receiving up to 40 percent of their revenue from court fines.

In addition to seeking monetary damages and class certification, the lawsuit is seeking a court order prompting the cities to change their practices.

The plaintiffs are represented by Thomas B. Harvey, Michael-John Voss, Blake A. Strode, Nathaniel Carroll, Edward J. Hall and Brendan Roediger of ArchCity Defenders Inc.; Robert Weiner, David B. Bergman, and S. Zachary Fayne of Arnold & Porter LLP.

The St. Louis County Debtors’ Prison Class Action Lawsuit is Quinton M. Thomas, et al. v. City of St. Ann, et al., Case No. 4:16-cv-1302, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, Eastern Division.