Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member Latest Breaking News General Discussion The DU Lounge All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

douglas9

(4,358 posts)
Fri Oct 30, 2015, 08:45 AM Oct 2015

Austin, Texas Targeted as a Debtors' Prison

AUSTIN, Texas (CN) - Austin, Texas is the latest city to face a federal class action accusing it of reinstituting debtors' prisons by jailing people who are too poor to pay fines for traffic tickets and petty misdemeanors.
Such lawsuits have mushroomed in the past year, in the aftermath of the protests of the white-on-black police killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo. Ferguson and several neighboring cities were accused of targeting black drivers for traffic stops, and jailing them, and "debtors' prisons" lawsuits have sprouted all over the United States. They typically challenge the constitutionality of a local jurisdiction's practice of jailing people who cannot afford to pay fines for petty offenses, and attribute it in part to racial discrimination.

http://www.courthousenews.com/2015/10/30/austin-texas-targeted-as-a-debtors-prison.htm

1 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Austin, Texas Targeted as a Debtors' Prison (Original Post) douglas9 Oct 2015 OP
A fine is only one kind of rehabilitation. There are other kinds of rehabilitation. DhhD Oct 2015 #1

DhhD

(4,695 posts)
1. A fine is only one kind of rehabilitation. There are other kinds of rehabilitation.
Fri Oct 30, 2015, 03:37 PM
Oct 2015

Incarceration can be peonage. Peonage is racism. FDR put a stop to it in the 1930s. It seem the racism is back.

Here is an example (there are years and years of more Peonage):
http://southernspaces.org/2013/inside-jackson-tract-battle-over-peonage-labor-camps-southern-alabama-1906

Latest Discussions»Region Forums»Texas»Austin, Texas Targeted as...