Despite 2014 law, those who can't pay court fines are still jailed: So Colorado lawmaker tries again
Originally, James Fisher was fined $703 in 2012 for twice violating Colorado open-container laws and being unable to provide proof of insurance.
Since then, he has paid $1,500 and been jailed three times, when he couldn’t come up with money or failed to appear in court, he told a state legislative committee last month. And he still owes $860 and has a warrant out for his arrest.
His experience isn’t all that unusual among low-income residents of Colorado, the Denver Post reports. Despite a 2014 state law that says a judge is supposed to hold a hearing and determine whether requiring payment is an undue hardship before an individual is jailed, additional costs and penalties for failing to make scheduled payments, missing one or more court dates and being jailed on a warrant before the fine is fully satisfied can quickly add up.
But state Rep. Joe Salazar, a Democrat, hopes a new bill he is sponsoring will change that. Although the 2014 law he spearheaded, requiring a hearing prior to a jailing, didn’t change the so-called debtors’ prison practices of a number of municipalities, House Bill 1311 is intended to close loopholes with more specific requirements.
It calls for a contempt hearing, at which the defendant must be represented by a lawyer, and says jailing the individual is permissible only when the court finds no undue hardship and an intentional refusal to pay despite adequate resources, the newspaper reports.
A hearing is scheduled Wednesday before the state senate’s judiciary committee.
Not everyone sees the merit of the proposed new law: During a legislative hearing last month, presiding Judge Richard Weinberg of the city of Aurora’s municipal courts argued that the bill “allows any person given a sentence to ignore their responsibilities for their criminal acts” and discriminates against those in upper income levels.
Counters Fisher: “I shouldn’t be arrested just because I’m poor. If I go to jail again, I’ll lose my job, which is the only thing keeping me off the streets right now. Paying double for the original fine and being arrested three times should be more than enough punishment for what I’ve done, but Aurora just won’t stop coming after me for every penny that I have.”
See also:
ABA Journal: “Privatized probation becomes a spiral of added fees and jail time”
ABAJournal.com: “Debtors’ Prisons a Reality for Defendants Unable to Pay Fees and Fines”
