The American Civil Liberties Union says an eastern Washington county is operating a modern day debtors’ prison in violation of both the United States and Washington State Constitutions. The ACLU of Washington and the law firm of Terrell Marshall Law Group filed a class-action lawsuit against Benton County, which includes the towns of Richland and Kennewick.
By her own admission, Jayne Fuentes has struggled with addiction and mental illness. She has done time in the Benton County jail. Now, she is trying to get her life together and has a job at a fast food restaurant. But, always looming over her are the court imposed fees and obligations, often called LFO's, she still owes.
“I try to pay my fines, but I’m making minimum wage and I work part time. I fear everyday that I’m going to be arrested because I can’t pay my fines,” Fuentes said.
ACLU of Washington attorney Vanessa Hernandez says those fines can often add up to more than $1000. She says jailing people or forcing them to be on work crews when they do not pay amounts to unfairly punishing the poor.
“People with significant resources who can write a check for the entire balance of their fine on the same day don’t face those challenges," Hernandez said.
The ACLU cites the cases Bearden v. Georgia (U.S. Supreme Court, 1983) and Smith v. Whatcom County District Court (Wash. Court of Appeals, 2002) to make the point that courts can not lock someone up for failing to pay if the reason is because they are too poor to come up with the money. And, according to Hernandez, most of the fees imposed are not for restitution to victims.
"These are people being forced to pay for the cost of their court appointed attorney, people being asked to pay the cost of the sheriff's mileage in serving of their arrest warrant and people being asked to pay for the cost of incarceration," Hernandez said.
Benton County did not respond to a request for comment on the lawsuit.
