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Since the 1970s, the Supreme Court has been clear that it鈥檚 unconstitutional to jail people simply because they can鈥檛 afford to pay fines and fees.

But in states across the South 鈥斅燼nd across the country 鈥斅爐hat鈥檚 exactly what cash-strapped municipalities are doing.

Take Glenn Chastain. He owed $1,200 to the city of for expired vehicle tags. Because he missed a hearing, he was denied the chance to pay a partial fine. He spent 48 days in jail.

Jamie Tillman, without a lawyer, admitted to a public intoxication charge punishable by a $100 fine. She didn鈥檛 even have $10 鈥斅燼nd had no family member she could call for help. But a judge told her $25 would be knocked off her fine for every day she stayed in jail, so that鈥檚 what she did until her balance was down to $0.

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鈥淚 thought, 鈥楤ecause we鈥檙e poor, because we鈥檙e of a lower class, we aren鈥檛 allowed real freedom,鈥欌�� Tillman recalled to Matthew Shaer for The New York Times. 鈥淎nd it was the worst feeling in the world.鈥�

We opened an investigation into Corinth鈥檚 practice of jailing of low-income defendants in 2017. Micah West and Sara Wood, lawyers in our economic justice practice group, told The New York Times about court sessions 鈥渨here defendants were permitted to use a landline phone to make a final plea for the cash that would set them free.鈥� As Shaer describes:

The space amounted to an earthly purgatory: Secure the money, and you were saved. Fail, and you鈥檇 be sent to jail. 鈥淎ll around us, people would be crying or yelling, getting more and more desperate,鈥� Wood recalled.

That October, she watched a 59-year-old man named Kenneth Lindsey enter the office, his lean arms hanging lank by his side, his face gaunt and pale. Lindsey had been in court for driving with an expired registration, but he hadn鈥檛 been able to afford the fines: He was suffering from hepatitis C and liver cancer, and he had spent the very last of his savings on travel to Tupelo for a round of chemotherapy. Until his next state disability check arrived, he was broke. 鈥淐an you help?鈥� Lindsey whispered into the phone.

A few seconds of silence passed. 鈥淎ll right, then. Thanks anyway.鈥�

Finally, around 1:45 p.m., Lindsey managed to get through to his sister. She barely had $100 herself, but she promised to drive it over after her shift was through.

Wood caught up with Lindsey in the parking lot later that day, and after identifying herself, asked if he would consider being interviewed by the S.P.L.C. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know,鈥� Lindsey said, studying the ground. But soon enough, he called Wood to say he had changed his mind. 鈥淚鈥檝e been paying these sons of b------ all my life,鈥� he told her. 鈥淚t鈥檚 time someone did something about it.鈥�

We sued Corinth with the MacArthur Justice Center in 2017. A month later, Corinth ordered its jail emptied of anyone incarcerated for nonpayment of fines.

And last year, after we lobbied Mississippi, both houses of the state Legislature unanimously passed a bill prohibiting any resident from being jailed for a failure to pay court costs or fines. It went into effect in July.

But wealth-based detention is far from solved.

鈥淭his is a massive problem, and it鈥檚 not confined to the South. It鈥檚 national,鈥� the 澳彩开奖鈥檚 Sam Brooke told Shaer.

Even in Corinth, Lindsey is still trapped in a web of arrests and court fees, nearly all of which he can trace back to his vehicle. His registration and driver鈥檚 license are expired, but to pay off those expiration fees, he needs to drive to work.

鈥淚 would estimate that I鈥檝e spent a quarter of the last year behind bars,鈥� he told Shaer. Could he calculate exactly what he owed? 鈥�$10,000?鈥� he responded. 鈥�$11,000?鈥� The way he said it, it might as well have been a million dollars. 鈥淚 ain鈥檛 never going to pay it down,鈥� he said. 鈥淣ever, ever. I鈥檓 going to be paying it down until I die.鈥�

The Editors

P.S. Here are some other pieces we think are valuable this week:

• by Angelina Chapin for Huffington Post
• by Danny Lyon for The New York Review of Books
• by Dakin Andone for CNN
• by Bryan Lee Jr. for City Lab

澳彩开奖's Weekend Reads are a weekly summary of the most important reporting and commentary from around the country on civil rights, economic and racial inequity, and hate and extremism.聽Sign up to receive Weekend Reads every Saturday morning.

Photo Jessica Dimmock