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ST. LOUIS, MO & WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law (Lawyers’ Committee) applauds the decision of the United States Court of Appeal for the 8th Circuit upholding a District Court decision dismissing a lawsuit arising from implementation of an Amnesty Program forgiving all fees that probationers owed to the private probation company, the Justice Network (“JTN”).

“The private probation industry is not entitled to exploit an unequal justice system to drive up their profit margins,” said Kristen Clarke, President and Executive Director of the Lawyers’ Committee. “The Justice Network’s claims in this case were an affront to the ability of judges protect the civil rights of minorities and indigent defendants. We applaud the 8th Circuit’s decision and we hope this encourages all judges to critically examine how the enforcement of fines and fees has become an unjust burden on those who are simply too poor to pay them, and to take action to ensure equal justice and due process in their courtrooms.”

Last fall, the Lawyers’ Committee and Venable LLP filed an amicus curiae, “friend of the court,” brief in the 8th Circuit concerning the matter of the Justice Network v. Craighead County, et al., a case highlighting the systemic problems inherent in the prevalence of for-profit companies within the criminal justice system.  The original District Court case marked an unusual turn in which JTN, a private probation company, sued two Craighead County judges who ended use of the company’s services in Craighead County, Arkansas.  After losing in the lower court, JTN filed an appeal with the 8th Circuit, and today, the 8th Circuit affirmed the lower court’s decision.

From 1997 until February 2017, the Justice Network served as the sole provider of misdemeanor probation supervision in Craighead County. The company collected upwards of $500,000 a year off the backs of largely poor and disproportionately minority Arkansans.  Judges Tommy Fowler and David Boling ended the use of the company’s services in Craighead County and with it, the practice of seeking warrants for the arrest of individuals on probation for failure to pay and/or attend a class or assignment scheduled by the private company.

In its amicus brief, the Lawyers’ Committee and co-counsel argued that Judges Fowler and Boling were justified in ending the use of the company’s services in the county’s probation system on both law and policy grounds.  The money-making scheme pursued by JTN undermined faith in the criminal justice system and caused widespread harm by systematically perpetuating unfair and unequal treatment of poor and minority Arkansans by jailing people without any regard for their ability to pay court-imposed debt.  On just one day in August 2016, more than 80 percent of individuals who appeared before Judge Boling in court were jailed solely on warrants issued for failure to pay—not because of any criminal wrongdoing.

A copy of the opinion can be found here.

 

About the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law

The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization, was formed in 1963 at the request of President John F. Kennedy to involve the private bar in providing legal services to address racial discrimination. Now in its 56th year, the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law is continuing its quest to “Move America Toward Justice.” The principal mission of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law is to secure, through the rule of law, equal justice for all, particularly in the areas of criminal justice, fair housing and community development, economic justice, educational opportunities, and voting rights.

Contact
Reynolds Graves, Lawyers’ Committee, RGraves@LawyersCommittee.org, 202-662-8375