By Michael Goldberg, The Related Press/Report for America
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A Mississippi police division in one of many nation’s poorest counties unconstitutionally jailed individuals for unpaid fines with out first assessing whether or not they might afford to pay them, the U.S. Division of Justice mentioned Feb. 29.
The announcement comes amid a Justice Division probe into alleged civil rights violations by police in Lexington, Mississippi. The continuing investigation, which started in November, is concentrated on accusations of systemic police abuses within the majority-Black metropolis of about 1,600 individuals some 65 miles (100 kilometers) north of the capital of Jackson.
In a letter addressed to Katherine Barrett Riley, the lawyer for town of Lexington, federal prosecutors mentioned the Lexington Police Division imprisons individuals for excellent fines with out figuring out whether or not the individual has the means to pay them — a observe that violates the Fourteenth Modification.
Riley didn’t instantly reply to a telephone message Feb. 29.
“It’s time to deliver an finish to a two-tiered system of justice in our nation through which an individual’s earnings determines whether or not they stroll free or whether or not they go to jail,” mentioned Kristen Clarke, the division’s assistant lawyer normal for civil rights. “There may be nice urgency underlying the problems we have now uncovered in Mississippi, and we stand able to work with officers to finish these dangerous practices.”
Prosecutors mentioned the conduct of police in Lexington violates the structure’s prohibition on wealth-based detention. It does so by requiring people who find themselves arrested to pay excellent fines earlier than they are often launched from jail, and by issuing and arresting individuals on warrants for excellent fines, they mentioned.
“One-third of Lexington’s residents reside beneath the poverty line. The burden of unjust fines and charges undermines the objectives of rehabilitation and erodes the neighborhood’s belief within the justice system,” mentioned Todd W. Gee, U.S. Legal professional for the Southern District of Mississippi.
About 86 % of Lexington’s inhabitants is Black and it has a poverty charge approaching 30 %. The realm additionally has a storied place in civil rights historical past. In 1967, Holmes County residents elected Robert Clark, the primary Black man to win a seat within the Mississippi Legislature within the twentieth century.
The civil rights division’s sweeping investigation into the Lexington Police Division consists of allegations of extreme drive, discriminatory policing and First Modification violations.
Town’s former police chief, Sam Dobbins, was fired after a civil rights group obtained an audio recording of him utilizing racial slurs and speaking about how many individuals he had killed within the line of responsibility.
Justice Division officers mentioned they met with metropolis leaders Feb. 29. The native officers have pledged to work with the Justice Division to reform their procedures, prosecutors mentioned.
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Michael Goldberg is a corps member for the Related Press/Report for America Statehouse Information Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit nationwide service program that locations journalists in native newsrooms to report on undercovered points.
