ACLU Lawsuit: DeKalb County Targets the Poor

A federal lawsuit filed Thursday by the American Civil Liberties Union claims DeKalb County is locking up poor people who can’t afford to pay court fines, regardless of their income level.

WSB TV reports the lawsuit was filed on behalf of Kevin Thompson, 19, who spent five days in jail after he was unable to pay more than $800 in fines and fees tied to a traffic ticket.

Thompson’s lawyers say he brought partial payment to several meetings with the for-profit company Judicial Correction Services Inc., the company hired by the county to collect fines. But, when he came to a meeting without money, he was jailed.

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled it illegal to incarcerate people for failure to pay court fines without considering ability to pay and other factors, said Nusrat Choudhury, attorney for the ACLU.

DeKalb County authorities declined to comment.

Choudhury said that while many states use companies like JCS to collect fees, the ACLU decided to sue DeKalb County because it has collected more revenue than any other municipality in Georgia using these methods.

»See the full story on WSB TV.