In Alabama, Georgia, and other Southern states, many local governments have signed contracts with private probation companies, like Judicial Correction Services (JCS) and Sentinel Corrections Services (SCS), that specialize in collecting fees and fines from people who owe the courts money for low-level infractions, usually traffic-related. However, these for-profit companies are imposing hefty penalties on poor people who can’t even pay small fines and are threatening them with jail if they do not pay.
JCS and Sentinel cannot be allowed to continue preying on people who fail to pay their debts and therefore Brave New Films, has shot a short documentary To Prison For Poverty, that tells the story of Hali Wood, a 17-year-old from a small town of Columbiana, Alabama, who was placed on probation with JCS after she couldn’t come up with the money to pay off a $41 seat belt ticket. The documentary also tells the story of Kathleen Hucks, who is suing SCS for their abuse of power.
To Prison For Poverty, documents the system that enables private probation companies to profit from charging excessive fees to low income people. Hundreds of thousands of poor people are sentenced to probation and are jailed for failure to pay their debts to these businesses.
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How can this be stopped ?
Revolution.
The company gets a judge to order you to pay, when you don’t you’re found to be in contempt. Then the judge can order your arrest. This how “deadbeat” dads are jailed. They aren’t jailed for not paying, but because they are found in contempt.
I live in a county in Georgia which has a contract with Sentinel, and I can tell you first-hand they will lock you up for non-payment. Also, they tend to keep people in jail longer for non-payment than state felony probation will for a serious offense. When you add up the monthly fee, the time required to miss work, and the original fine, it becomes nearly impossible for people with little income to get out of the cycle. Something needs to be done.