Public Defender System – Michigan
Michigan Finally Eyeing Changes To Lawyers For Poor, By Carrie Johnson, June 14, 2012, NPR: “Lawyers on all sides agree the system enshrined nearly 50 years ago that gives all defendants the right to a...
View ArticleLegal Defense for the Poor – Iowa, Michigan
Iowa’s costs for defending poor rise, By Vanessa Miller, June 28, 2012, Cedar Rapids Gazette: “Just a handful of basic questions stand between accused criminals claiming to be indigent and trained...
View ArticleProbation Fees and Jail Time
Poor land in jail as companies add huge fees for probation, By Ethan Bronner, July 2, 2012, New York Times: “Three years ago, Gina Ray, who is now 31 and unemployed, was fined $179 for speeding. She...
View ArticlePublic Criminal Defense System – Michigan
Indigent defense: Michigan looks to overhaul system for low-income criminal defense, By Jonathan Oosting, June 14, 2013, MLive.com: “Michigan lawmakers on Thursday took a major step towards overhauling...
View ArticleCourt Fines and the Poor
Civil rights attorneys sue Ferguson over ‘debtors prisons’, By Joseph Shapiro, February 8, 2015, National Public Radio: “In a new challenge to police practices in Ferguson, Mo., a group of civil...
View ArticleJailing for Inability to Pay Bail
How bail punishes the poor for their poverty, By Max Ehrenfreund, February 13, 2015, Washington Post: “Most of the controversy over crime and punishment in the United States has focused on how many...
View ArticleCourt Fines and the Poor – Washington
Poor offenders must be asked if they can afford to pay fines, state Supreme Court says, By Mike Carter, March 12, 2015, Seattle Times: “The state Supreme Court, citing the burden imposed on poor...
View ArticleCourt Fines and the Poor – California
California governor pitches amnesty on traffic debt for poor, By Judy Lin (AP), May 23, 2015, San Francisco Chronicle: “Calling California’s traffic court system a ‘hellhole of desperation’ for the...
View ArticleUS Bail System
When bail Is out of defendant’s reach, other costs mount, By Shaila Dewan, June 10, 2015, New York Times: “Dominick Torrence, who has lived in this city all his life, has a long rap sheet for dealing...
View ArticleCourt Fines and the Poor
‘Sweeping’ court reform comes as Nixon signs bill to cap cities’ revenue, end predatory habits, By Robert Patrick and Stephen Deere, July 10, 2015, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: “Gov. Jay Nixon on Thursday...
View ArticleCourt Fines and Debt
After Ferguson, states struggle to crack down on court debt, By Sophie Quinton, August 26, 2015, Stateline: “Say you’re caught driving 10 miles an hour over the posted speed limit in California. The...
View ArticleCourt Fines and the Poor – California
California unveils amnesty program for unpaid traffic tickets, By Kurtis Alexander, September 30, 2015, San Francisco Chronicle: “Millions of California motorists with suspended licenses have a chance...
View ArticleUS Bail System and the Poor
Court by court, lawyers fight policies that fall heavily on the poor, By Shaila Dewan, October 23, 2015, New York Times: “In January, Christy Dawn Varden was arrested in a Walmart parking lot, charged...
View ArticleBail System – Connecticut
Gov. Malloy proposes elimination of bail for some offenders, By Daniela Altimari, January 28, 2016, Hartford Courant: “Standing in a church in the North End Thursday afternoon, Gov.Dannel P. Malloy...
View ArticlePublic Defenders – Missouri
Missouri public defender director warns his department is in crisis, Associated Press, February 21, 2016, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: “The director of Missouri’s public defenders is warning that the...
View ArticleCourt Fines and the Poor
Justice Dept. tells state judges to stop targeting the poor, By Cathaleen Chen, March 14, 2016, Christian Science Monitor: “As part of the Obama administration’s latest civil rights initiative that...
View ArticlePublic Defender System – Louisiana
In Louisiana, the poor lack legal defense, By Campbell Robertson, March 19, 2016, New York Times: “It was arraignment morning at the Vermilion Parish courthouse, the monthly catalog of bad decisions,...
View ArticlePublic Defender System – Louisiana
On the defensive, By Dylan Walsh, June 2, 2016, The Atlantic: “Concordia Parish extends tall and narrow along the Mississippi River, where the ankle of Louisiana meets the instep. Almost one-third of...
View ArticleCourt Fines and the Poor
How prison debt ensnares offenders, By Juleyka Lantigua-Williams, June 2, 2016, The Atlantic: “Even after serving time for a felony conviction, former inmates can remain legally bound to the judicial...
View ArticleCourt Fines and the Poor
Debtors prison a thing of the past? Some places in America still lock up the poor, By Rick Anderson, June 8, 2016, Los Angeles Times: “Unemployed and fighting to stay clean, Jayne Fuentes had few...
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