ATLANTA (AP) - DeKalb County agreed to policy changes meant to protect the rights of people who can't afford fines and fees for traffic violations and other misdemeanors as part of the settlement of a federal lawsuit.
The American Civil Liberties Union sued the county in January on behalf of a man who was jailed after he was unable to pay more than $800 in fines and fees from a traffic ticket within 30 days. Kevin Thompson's constitutional rights to have a lawyer and a hearing to demonstrate his inability to pay were violated, the ACLU said.
Under the settlement announced Thursday, the county has agreed to several changes, including:
providing a ``bench card'' that instructs judges on the procedure for determining ability to pay, outlines alternatives to jail and reminds judges how to protect a person's right to an attorney in probation revocation hearing;
providing training and guidance to court personnel involved in misdemeanor probation;
revising forms to inform people charged with probation violations about their right to a lawyer and their right to request a waiver of public defender fees they can't afford.
The lead attorney on the case for the ACLU, Nusrat Choudhury, said she was pleased the case settled so quickly.
``It shows an effort by the county to reform a system that has been broken for a long time,'' she said.
The settlement also requires the county and other defendants to pay $60,000 to Thompson and $10,000 to his lawyers.
Thompson was 19 when he was stopped by a police officer in July and was arrested, charged with driving with a suspended license and jailed for a night. He pleaded guilty in October and the judge ordered him to pay an $810 fine within 30 days, the lawsuit says. He was assigned a probation officer from Judicial Correction Services Inc., the company hired by the county to collect fines, and instructed to report weekly.
When he showed up at a meeting without any money, the officer served him with a petition to revoke his probation. At a probation revocation hearing, no one told him he had the right to a court-appointed attorney and that he might be eligible for a fee waiver for such an attorney, the lawsuit says.
Thompson felt ashamed, humiliated and embarrassed about the arrest ``not because of something he did that deserved jail time, but because of his poverty,'' Choudhury said.
Local governments in 13 states work with for-profit probation companies to collect debts, Choudhury said when the suit was filed. The ACLU singled out DeKalb County because it has collected more revenue than any other municipality in Georgia using these methods, she said.
Thursday
November 28th, 2024
5:35PM
