The SPLC has reached a settlement with Alexander City, Alabama, and its police chief to resolve a federal class action lawsuit over the operation of a modern-day debtors’ prison in which people were jailed for being too poor to pay fines and court fees for traffic tickets and misdemeanors.
The recent analysis by the Congressional Budget Office confirms what we already knew: The plan to replace the Affordable Care Act will drastically reduce the number of people with health insurance in our country. This bill will have life-threatening consequences for the poor as it slashes $880 billion in funding from Medicaid.
Three people in Clanton, Alabama, who were threatened with jail by the private probation company when they fell behind on fines from traffic violations or other misdemeanor citations, have resolved their claims against Judicial Correction Services (JCS).
Editor’s note: As of December 13, 2017, a total of 78 Alabama cities have reformed their bail practices. A list of these cities can be found here.
The SPLC has submitted comments to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) in support of a proposed rule to protect low-income borrowers from predatory lending practices.
A city ordinance that criminalized the failure to pay a water bill was repealed by the city council in the town of Chickasaw, Alabama, last night in response to a Southern Poverty Law Center letter advising the city’s municipal judge that the ordinance is unconstitutional.
The SPLC joined 286 advocacy groups today voicing support for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) proposal to restrict the financial industry’s use of forced arbitration – a tactic employed by Wall Street banks and predatory lenders to prevent consumers from challenging illegal practices in court.
Marta* asked me to look at her hands.
A city judge in Bogalusa, La., has agreed to temporarily stop jailing indigent people who can’t pay fines or court costs and to stop collecting extension fees and court costs that fund his court, according to a joint agreement filed today in federal court.
A city court judge in Bogalusa, Louisiana, operated a modern-day debtors’ prison by illegally jailing indigent people unable to pay fines or court costs – including a man fined for stealing $5 worth of food to feed his family. The SPLC filed a federal lawsuit to stop the unconstitutional...
